Shadow Revelations I: Altered Reality
by Phase7
Summary: Shadow & Rouge become targets of a secretive group composed of nuclear cyborgs, manipulative PSI users, corporate employees gone AWOL, & former G.U.N. Agents. Friends & even enemies face their merciless wrath, from abduction to torture. WARNING: Contains Full Graphic Scenes, Very Mature Scenarios, Strong Language, Intense Violence & Shadouge. Not for the faint of heart & NSFW!
1. Intro (Searching For Something)

Searching For Something

* * *

Love builds slowly and knows no age

Hatred easily gains animosity but is easily lost.

One's running love

One's timeless quest

One's eternal hunt

A trio's redemption

And one's mysterious disappearance.

Everybody searches

But few succeed to find

Their true desires.

Is it luck, fate, or destiny who decides?

We may never find the answer

But the hunger to find out

and the journey we travel

is what makes it all worth the while.

Because finding the answer

also equals the end of a journey.

But a new journey will be there

ready to begin where the old one left off.

Now let us begin...

Shadow Revelations


	2. Expecting

I wish Shad didn't have to leave me here alone, but it was for the better that we stay apart for a while. He always was a little tender, waking up to a new world twice and in his perspective, his loved ones died almost yesterday. Shadow really needs time to himself to think his life over. I know it is the right thing to do by letting him go but doing the right thing has never felt right to me. I would be working for G.U.N. now but I am on maternal leave so I am at home in a little town a few miles away from Central City. G.U.N. recommended me to not be in the big city because of the little Shadow or Shadows growing in my tummy; they also said it's not good for expecting mothers because of the stress associated with the big city.

I can't wear my usual outfit anymore because of my huge baby bump so I had to buy looser clothes to stretch over it. For maybe a few weeks after I got placed on maternal leave, I stole some more jewels for money, after that, my mother instincts told me to stay home. I know I'm close to bearing the little Shadow or Shadows inside me. I mean just look at me, I'm so huge it hurts sometimes to walk around the house and the movement inside me is almost constant. I knew I would've visited the doctor for my babies, but instead, I gave into those shiny gems I seen in the jewelry store. What kind of mother am I, stealing jewels on maternal leave. What if I went into labor inside the store or fell on my belly and hurt my babies or myself? I feel ashamed of myself for endangering the little ones inside me over some polished rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. To be honest, I don't know if I have one baby or two or more in my womb, I feel there's more than one in me though. I'm just glad that my baby or babies are okay. What people say about motherhood being a full-time job is the absolute truth. I wish I could have done a few more things before I start a family, I always thought I would be a great supermodel but these fine curves are not just for showing off.

"Life in your new world, round and round. Making some sense, where there's no sense at all!" Woah! My phone with ring and vibrate on sure feels funny on my pregnant stomach. Maybe I should turn my phone to ring only, the surprise might make me go into labor. It's my neighbor calling me at his usual 8:00 call, I have a specific ringtone set for him. He always seems overly concerned and unusually kind to me. Even though he acts more than a neighbor sometimes, I absolutely do appreciate his help. I don't have to worry about going to the store or any other place alone due to me being a G.U.N. agent. I wouldn't normally worry being alone, but being pregnant to the point of popping anytime soon makes me way less ready to fight hand-to-hand. I better answer the phone before it goes to voicemail. One time, I didn't answer the phone and he almost crashed his car because he was doing over 100 through the city and into the suburbs from the supermarket where he was doing his shopping and almost hit the streetlights in front of my house. I guess people get crazy when you let them get attached to you.

"Good morning, Doc. I hope you're doing well. How is your machine?" Beginning with the line I almost always use when it's my neighbor calling me.

"It's going great! Got a newer model that is more responsive, lighter, and consumes way less power than the previous one did!" My neighbor always talks like he is in a hurry and even runs out of breath sometimes. "The new one even has Bluetooth! It's like comparing records to MP3s! Did you feed the babies yet? I bet they sure are hungry if you didn't."

"Yeah, I'm about to feed them now. What do you think I should feed them, a gallon of ice cream, two whole pizzas, or some fried chicken?"

"Ooooooooooh... um... I'd say the ice cream, at least it has calcium in it for your and the baby's bones! And don't forget to take your vitamins, I read a report that you cannot get all the nutrients you need in one day simply by eating. I know you need all you can get especially when you are eating for two instead of one!"

"Ice cream it is. Okay ice cream, you heard the man! Your first!"

*Neighbor Chuckles on the Phone*

"Say, can you take me to the hospit..."

*Gasp* "Is it time!?"

"No, no, no, no. I think I finally should get an ultrasound. I think I might be, you know, eating for three instead of two."

"Okay, sorry about that. So you think you have two buns in there instead of one? I wouldn't doubt that, you're a little big to have only one in that oven! I'll finish filing this paperwork then I'll pick you up, sounds okay?"

"Okay, thank you Doc. See you soon."

"No problem, take it easy and watch some TV, read the newspaper, or play the Sega."

"TV sounds good, I'll go kill that ice cream now. Bye bye Doc."

"Bye bye Rouge, see you there!"

My neighbor is a doctor who is on vacation from his primary job, but he works at the big city's hospital part-time "so he can keep his skills sharp" he says. I do my best to not worry him any because he has a serious health condition. He has survived an assassination attempt a few months ago by being shot in the stomach with a 14.5mm rifle. Even though he survived simply by the round failing to penetrate the high level body armor due to defective ammunition, the impact destroyed his stomach and damaged the rest of his digestive system beyond any means of surgery or operation. Ever since, he has lived by carrying a machine that supplies his body with the vitamins and nutrients needed for survival. Regardless of his damaged bowels, he can still drink liquids thanks to his remaining intestinal tract being repaired right after getting shot with an anti-materiel rifle. Not only did a gut shot total his digestive system, but how his body stores fat and how his metabolism works is toast also. Due to not being able to receive fat with a totaled stomach, his body's ability to store it is gone. As for his metabolism, it is only kept in balance by the machine he carries, without it, he will die within less than a minute for sure.

I just hope that my children are born without health defects and live a life of peace, free of struggle, and without conflict of any kind. Unfortunately, no health defects seems the only realistic wish to place any faith in.


	3. The Problem With Making Deals

This new nutrient supply device makes me feel new! I never get how a new thing can make a person feel so young. I can now speed through traffic, run, and sprint without threatening my survival, making exercise a better experience. The staff here at the hospital are much amazed that simply a new machine can make me do so much more than I used to. I am just filing this paperwork at a pace I never could do for a very long time. I used to never rely upon mechanical nutrient suppliers until I got shot with a 14.5mm rifle on the way to a very important meeting because of my previous business on the ARK.

Sometime after the ARK raid, me, Doctor of Science, Alibe Kalgan, along with my boss, dataDyne CEO Kyle Easton, were flying in a private jet heading toward a meeting. Recently, a very important associate of Easton's has disappeared in the airspace somewhere over northern Chun-Nan. The meeting was about Easton's associate, Easton was very suspicious of Chun-Nan, and his suspicion remains to this day. When the trip began, I did not know why Easton was taking me along to Chun-Nan. I soon knew why when Easton handed me a manila folder, the contents were all the documents and information about my involvement in a serious business transaction between Gerald Robotnik, the United Federation, and dataDyne. Among the documents, there was a series of photographs of me, Gerald, and another associate we know as Dr. Black. It turned out that Dr. Black was the associate Easton spoke of. As soon as I realized this, I knew what this was about.

* * *

Almost 60 years ago, the United Federation's president started what we know as Project Shadow; a project for researching immortality and potentially achieving it at the same time. While the United Federation had the funds to do this, they did not have the technology and trained people to go for such an accomplishment. When you are a nation that has money but not anything else, what do you do? You make a deal, of course! And this was where dataDyne steps in. dataDyne being the biggest, if not the only weapon and technology dealer that governments, NGOs (Non-Government Organizations), and 'Private Investors' buy from; the United Federation made a deal with dataDyne. dataDyne Corporation has always had the United Federation and the previous United States as a customer ever since the very late 20th and/or early 21st centuries, I would tell you what happened to the United States but that is an entirely huge and seperate story in itself.

Back to the current subject; the deal was in short that dataDyne would not only be paid a huge amount of money, I used to know the exact amount but I forgot, but also entitling complete access to the result. Why did the United Federation make a deal involving complete access to a high-yield project like Project Shadow? Simple; the president, while wanting a physical product that was potentially of use, his expectations were nothing short of some pieces of paper basically saying 'it's impossible.' However, the president did not count on Gerald's contact with Black Doom. When Project Shadow started, the United Federation had only Gerald Robotnik to work with. Since dataDyne had nothing short of almost everything the United Federation needed; intelligent and trained staff, leading technology, etc. There was one thing Project Shadow didn't have, a genetic model to begin with.

The beginning of Project Shadow was nothing short of testing the power of the Chaos Emeralds on various animals and species, which was nothing short of something like burning ants with a magnifying glass. The Emerald's power was just reducing the test subjects to hamburger instead of improving said test subjects properties, the power the Emeralds contained were too powerful for the lifeforms of the time to use. After causing many casualties to the animal kingdom, we rest assured, there was no lifeforms yet to exist that was capable of handling and harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds. The whole staff of Project Shadow now sat hopeless and defeated, it was only a matter of time before the president pulled the plug on the project.

As I sat and looked over at the Chaos Drives that we used for the tests, I wanted to know their electrical power rating. Gathering a computer that measured electrical output in Gigawatts, some heavy gauge wires with clamps at the ends, and one of the Chaos Drives sitting on the table; I clamped both ends of the drive to the Positive and Negative input poles on the computer. The numbers on the screen began to climb at 10 Gigawatts-per-second, the computer screen brightened as the numbers went higher. I thought this was interesting and wanted to go tell Gerald. When I stood up and headed for the door, I heard the machine making an electrical short. I turned around and the screen was so bright, I had to shield my eyes and soon the screen finally burned out, the computer promply self ignited from the electrical power, and engulfed itself in flames.

As I stared at what happened in amazement, the lights went out due to electrical backfeed popping the station's power grid breakers. The emergency lights powered on due to being operated on battery backup and the fire alarm activated. The only lights on in my room were the glow of the Chaos Drives and the burning computer. Soon, some fire and maintainence crew members entered through the door and asked what happened, I was completely stunned and speechless by what I did. Later, after the power came back on and I visited the station's medical center, Gerald approached me and told me about that his radio now receives some highly unusual noise that could be aliens talking. At first I thought that Gerald snapped from failing to find a cure for Maria's NIDS, but I might as well go with him to see what it is, I always felt bad for Gerald and his dying Maria.

As I navigated the ARK with Professor Gerald, he asked me what happened with the Chaos Drive. I told him I wanted to measure the energy output of the drive, he pondered that thought for a minute, then realized that the Chaos Drives would fry the test subjects instead of enhancing them if not toned down much. Gerald then showed me his radio right where he left it before the electric back feed I caused shut off the station's power temporarily. The communications radio was fairly antiquated, relying upon vacuüm tubes instead of being solid state like most electronics. I can see the radio's display lights flicker to the crackling of electricity inside it's motherboard. The radio tuned to a frequency that before it could never make before its malfunction. And as Gerald mentioned earlier, it sounded like aliens talking, but I was still doubtful that this is aliens. The sound was nothing but grunting, clicking, and some screeching; sounds that nothing any intelligent species that I could think of would make.

I inspected the electronic device and noticed the overturned coffee mug on top of the machine's heat vent, with coffee still dripping on the circuit board. Then I glanced over and spotted Gerald's sandwich with a bite or two out of it. Soon, I put two and two together and came with a realization that while Gerald was having lunch, he sat his coffee on top of the communications radio and proceeded to eat his sandwich. When the power got cut off, he accidentally spilled his coffee into the radio's heat vent, causing it to malfunction. However, knowing that Gerald would still try to use the microphone to contact these 'aliens' even though its complete logic that this isn't the case, I did not prevent him from doing so. Somehow, just letting the person go do something even though you know it will not end well is a better idea because it prevents clashing between people. This ideology is actually a very safe policy when your on an island floating in space with little to no escape.

As I let Gerald go try to make contact with the 'aliens,' I escorted myself to the hallway to avoid seeing such an act of dying hope. Just as I entered the hallway, there was this unbelievably tall, horrific muscle build, and sharply chiseled man who wore a thick coat which covered almost his entire body. The coat's collar obscured his face up to level with the tip of his nose. His eyes were entirely shielded by thickly tinted shades that complemented his shine less black hair. His gloved hands were humongous in comparison to my small and fragile hands. This, my friends, is Dr. Black; and his intelligence matches his physical strength. Dr. Black knew what I thought about Professor Gerald.

"You know, you aren't very agile to grasp a new concept aren't you?" Dr. Black chuckled and told me, "Gerald's claim about the aliens is genuine."

"What do you mean? You believe such rubbish too? I thought you would be the last one to think of believing anything so absurd and ridiculous!" It was astounding that even Dr. Black bought this crack-pot nonsense.

"Who said I bought this, I know who Gerald tuned into. I easily understand what you refer to simply as noise, you simple human. My limited associate, you are about to see what will be eventually a big step for humanity."

I now feared Dr. Black more than I ever have before. If what he is saying is worth its weight in gold, then I am about to see a new chapter begin in human history, the beginning of interstellar relations. But what makes matters worse is I think that chapter has long since began; if Dr. Black knows what that noise is, then we have been in contact with extraterrestrials for a very long time since this.

Ever since Prof. Gerald made contact with the aliens that we know as the Black Arms, I think we all knew what happened since then. Biolizard gets created, G.U.N. killed most of the staff involved in Project Shadow including Maria, imprisoned Prof. Gerald, ARK got abandoned, and Shadow is out on the loose. Why I say most of the staff instead of all is only because me and Dr. Black is all there is left. Since me and Dr. Black are employees of dataDyne, we received two weeks notice before G.U.N. raided the ARK thanks to an informant Kyle Easton placed within G.U.N.'s ranks. We received a ride back to dataDyne's New Lucerne Tower in Central City a few days before the raid for safety concerns. However, Dr. Black never made it to Lucerne Tower like I did, he conveniently disappeared over northern Chun-Nan instead.

* * *

Almost one year after Dr. Black's absence and the ARK raid, me and dataDyne's CEO, Kyle Easton, received permission to fly in Chun-Nan airspace for the meeting. As soon as I completed sifting through the documents about Dr. Black and Project Shadow I was given earlier, I placed them back into the manila folder and returned it to Kyle. Kyle waved the folder in his hands before returning it to his briefcase, he was very disgusted with how this whole business deal turned out for him. Not only did the United Federation deny dataDyne any access to Shadow, but one of dataDyne's top scientists are missing also, making Kyle very furious and wanted to return the favor. The simple fact that a number of his staff died on ARK by G.U.N. made him uncomfortable, and realizing that the result was that we didn't have access to Shadow meant the staff's sacrifice was in vain. Kyle adjusted his cufflinks before he angrily gave me this line, "This is inexcusable, a lot of trained professionals died, a lot of money and resources got spent, the United Federation denied us access to Shadow, and not to long ago, one of our top scientists are missing. This was NOT a business deal, it was a set up! A rip off! Oh, doctor, we WILL get Shadow, we WILL get Dr. Black back, and we WILL teach everybody not to screw OUR business deals.

A couple of seconds after Kyle finished venting his agitation, our personal body-guard, K-134, stepped into our part of the plane. K-134 sat quietly next to Kyle without saying a word. K-134 always wore his armored uniform which completely shielded his body from the elements, his helmet's computer gave him every piece of information he wanted or needed without distracting him in a combat situation. It is a rare sight to see K-134 without his uniform on. Despite K-134's name sounding like a name for a robot, he is actually completely human, his name changed to keep his identity in secrecy and dataDyne's new employee roster lists employees by the first letter of their first name then a three or four digit number gets placed after the one letter. Another example of the roster system is my name on the employee roster is A-403. K-134 took a deep breath and whispered into Kyle's ear, Kyle responded by pulling out his DY500 handgun and placed it on his lap with a firm grasp on the pistol grip. Then I looked over at K-134 and he pulled out his SVD that received changes to become a battle rifle instead of the stock sniper rifle it originally was. I became confused at what was happening now, everybody's busting out these weapons.

I had to ask Kyle, "What is going on here?"

Kyle plainly, "We just detected anti-air systems in the area, we may get shot down. Do you have a weapon?"

I turned white after hearing this and couldn't reply to the question. Does it look like I carry a pistol, let alone any gun?

K-134 knew I didn't carry. He gave me his .45 pistol and a few clips, then he told me, "Take mine, you'll need it."

Just the thought of being shot at had me shaking in my shoes, I'm a scientist for fuck's sakes. Do you think I'd ever be behind a firearm? I couldn't help but look out of the window to try to assure myself that I'll be fine. It was a bad idea, a very bad idea. Just as I seen the wing of our private jet, it detonated by anti-aircraft gun fire and it made me scream uncontrollably; we're getting shot out of the air by somebody we cannot see! Kyle assured me repetitively that the jet's fuselage was plenty armored and safe against anti-air weapons, but it's also smacking the ground from a mile high in the air is what I'm scared of.

"All power to anti-crash shields!" The pilot said on the jet's loudspeaker system as we are falling toward Earth at whatever terminal speed is for a private jet being shot down by anti-air weapons. Soon, the pilot was in the same section we were, I know I wouldn't be in the nose of a plane on a collision course with Earth's surface neither. I couldn't help but look out of the window one more time before impact, I see the icy field below us coming closer at speed that wouldn't be safe for a person sensitive to motion sickness. "Buckle down everybody!" The pilot screamed out to make sure we had our seat belts fastened so we don't receive injury on impact. Right after the pilot clicked his seat belt together the jet finally smacked the ground with incredulous force, everything that wasn't strapped down or seat belted in flew at lethal speed to the front of the craft, the hot coffee barely missed my head and watching it hit the windshield was a sight I'm sure I'll never see again. Ominous silence was all that remained once every loose item lost its momentum and settled at the nose of the downed aircraft.

"Is everybody okay?" The pilot asked everyone on board as it is the pilot's job to make sure his passengers are safe and secure. "If anyone needs to take a dump, go to the toilet in the back okay?" The pilot tried to ease the situation's severity, but crash landing in potential enemy territory is not a matter taken lightly at all. K-134 was the only one who still had his weapon thanks to his armored uniform's electromagnetic wristbands that also collected a few pens and some silverware, everyone else's weapons were at the nose of the plane or still in their holsters. I looked through the window once more and seen the iced-over field and the conditions were clear, early morning, the sun was not yet out. The conditions may look clear out here, but I know something is still out there, waiting for the next move.

"Alright, we have an about 34 minutes until sunrise. If we can keep together, we will make it when help arrives at daybreak. Understand? Good." If it was one thing K-134 excelled at, he would excel at combat tactics because of his calculating nature and knowledge of many conditions and their benefits and counters. In this case, an icy plain with clear conditions isn't great combat conditions due to lack of cover and places to hide. However, this whitened terrain helps blend in the downed aircraft thanks to its similar white paint job and this flat area can give us a great field of vision, perfect for sniping and viewing the approaching enemy. Looking around me, Kyle had his vest-busting DY500 Magnum, K-134 wielded a battle rifle converted SVD (lacks a scope and thumb hole stock but uses 30-round clips), the pilot's weapon is a CMP150R (CMP150 Revision model, uses 50 round clips instead of 32 and has longer barrel for increased accuracy), and two other bodyguards onboard had dataDyne's new Phantom Carbine(Silenced short rifles designed for max damage at 300 meters or less), and I am using the DY45 Pocket Pistol. Our current weapons would be great if it was only infantry and some light vehicles, but we have some armor out here too so we may have some serious problems if they show up. We may last out here if the fuselage will hold the firepower from the heavy metal coming our way if Kyle is correct.

K-134 kept peeking out all the windows for any signs of the enemy, he then started to spell out the plan after not spotting any enemy forces, "Okay, it seems that we may have some armor out here so what we will do is use the fuselage as a pillbox. We will only evacuate the armored jet if we defeat the enemy forces or the fuselage gives in. Understood?" With the plan explained to us, we picked a window to watch out of. I had Kyle to my right and one bodyguard with a Phantom Carbine to my left, we stood by the windows waiting for the enemy to come to us. The passing of time was ever so slow out where the ice falls, no wonder people get cabin fever, the slow passing of time out here would drive one to madness. After almost 10 minutes staring out into this icy field, I see a lone infantry man scouting out the area, he was walking out and about. I know he was searching for the jet that crashed out here, he looked around for a bit then walked a few more steps then stopped again. He most likely sees our jet but he is unsure that it is the jet. The soldier stood there for a little while then pulled out some binoculars and looked at the jet, it took him a minute to realized that it is the jet. Then the lone scout put away the binoculars and started running at the jet.

"Don't fire! I'll take care of this one." K-134 walked up to the window and pointed his rifle right at the charging grunt. The soldier didn't see that he entered a trap. The scout was about a few yards away from the hatch when K-134 precisely picked him right in the center of his chest with a well-aimed .30 caliber round. The infantry slumped to the ground cold, killed-in-action. We waited for a few more minutes after the first kill to make sure there was no immediate back up so we can collect the body and its items. K-134 opened the hatch and walked out side and let cold air enter the jet as he dragged the body with one hand and carried his and the enemy's weapons with his other hand. When K-134 dragged the body into the jet, he took a deep breath from pulling the fallen soldier, then said the word nobody wanted to hear, "Northerners." The Northerners is what remains of the populace, societal standards, and tech of the former Soviet Union. The Soviet Union began to collapse under the size of itself, which consisted of almost every major continent along with most islands that the Earth had to offer. The beginning of the collapse started with the America SSR's liberation and secession, which later became the United Federation. Then as other nations systematically liberated and seceded, the Soviet Union returned to the land from which it came. A great nation that had the civilized and uncivilized world in it's back pocket since the 20th century now is no more than a decently sized country somewhere in the northern hemisphere. There are tales of how the Soviets went on a conquest of our solar system and even claimed of achieving civilization on Mars, but that may most likely be propaganda material. But if there is a truth about a Northerner, a Northerner never quits.

After K-134 took all weapons and any useful items from the deceased soldier, he handed me the soldier's weapon and a few ammo drums for it. The gun was a very crudely built SMG, form and function is the norm for Soviet/Northerner weapon construction. The barrel looked recycled from a previous weapon, likely a long rifle of sorts. The barrel appeared to also have been unevenly cut down to length with a hack saw. Soviets and Northerners never had quality control to sweat about as they only had two ways of building anything; make it extremely nice if it was only one being built or make it as cheap, fast, and probably as shitty as possible if it is being mass-produced in large quantities. The soldier also had a pistol and some grenades but K-134 kept those for himself since he can use them more efficiently than anybody else here.

Five minutes have passed since we killed our first enemy, it seems to have been more than that but it has not. I scanned the horizon ever so tediously for any more coming our way. I know they are out there, but I don't see them. Are they invisible? My eyes are becoming glazed because of not blinking for so long. One minute later, I see a red dot appear on the horizon. I thought it was a light but the color is too noticable, not just any kind of light was that sharp. I stared at it for a bit, then a white light blinked three times right where the red dot was. A few seconds after, there was three deafening impacts to the jet's armored fuselage. Everybody around me ducked down in unison because our jet had just been shot with a 14.5 mm anti-tank rifle. Soon, those three shots were the beginning of a concert of gunfire from heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, light tank cannons, and whatever small arms they had at their disposal. We all knew one thing, they found us.

The gunfire continued on for almost 10 minutes, then suddenly ceased. The silence returned only to make a cameo appearance before I heard a lone vehicle heading towards our jet. The sound became more detailed where I heard the engine's turbo making that ever familiar scream. Within a few seconds, the turbo went down and the tires locked from too much brake pressure on the pedal. The truck skid on loose gravel and the bumper knocked my side of the jet. I still remember the passenger calling the driver "stupid fuck you break truck," the driver must have been new to driving the truck. The truck's passenger door was right in front of my window. I saw the passenger's arm hanging over the door with a lit cigarette in hand. I also saw all the backs of the soldiers hanging over the edge of the bed. K-134 used sign language to ask me how many of them are in the back, I held up all 10 fingers of my hand up. After the passenger chewed out the driver in whatever Northerner language they were using, probably Russian, the passenger ordered the driver to drive the truck around to the other side of the jet. The truck's engine and gearbox groaned as it began to continue to grind my side of the jet before finally turning away to go to the other side.

The truck idled slowly around the jet to the other side and crawled to a stop. The passenger was looking over at the driver instead of the jet's windows. I held my tightly SMG with my two hands, I never gripped anything else to this day as I did that gun. The passenger slowly looked over at me through the windows. The passenger clicked open the truck's door and I sprayed him violently with half of my SMG's drum before his door opened all the way, killing the passenger and half the door became swiss cheese. The passenger fell out through the door he opened, showing the very scared driver who was too young for 18. He just sat there frigid from being consumed with so much fear from his tough-talking comrade being shot over thirty times in a second right next to him. I somehow couldn't bring myself to shoot the driver, I just couldn't kill somebody so young like him. The youthful driver finally fled in terror as the soldiers in the back began jumping off to the side of the jet. Everybody inside the jet stood up and began shooting at the soldiers, catching them off guard. After the soldiers were slain, K-134 ordered everybody to crawl through the windows that were on the same side as the truck. All six of us made it out of the jet and into the truck. I was in the back with the pilot and the two bodyguards, Kyle Easton was in the driver's seat as K-134 was in the passenger seat. I felt free that we are escaping but we certainly are not returned to safety yet.

As I watched us pull away from the wrecked jet, the jet continued facing gunfire from the enemies on the other side. Soon, a heavier weapon busted the jet open like a tin can and reduced the wreckage to shrapnel. We were far from the jet when it exploded, avoiding injury. I continued to watch the burning jet as we are escaping the enemy as fast as this truck can go. I couldn't stop thinking about the driver that fled when the passenger next to him got shot so many times before anything could be done about it. Watching somebody die right next to you at a young age is terrible, I probably ruined his life because I did that. But what else does a person do when a kid's partner is the guy trying to kill you? This thought will forever haunt me until I die. I never wanted to kill, but I did it because I wanted to live.

I stared out to the burning scrap we left and without warning, a trail motorcycle rode through it unfettered and in hot pursuit of us. A husky was driving the bike with a SMG in his left hand and his human passenger with an anti-tank rifle in his grasp. The husky aimed his gun and opened fire on the back of the truck, hole-punching the top of the cab which got K-134's attention. K-134 swung open his perforated door, held his rifle with one hand and started shooting at our two-wheeled assailants. The pursuers continued the chase, the gunfire doesn't bother them. The human passenger pulled up his rifle and pointed it right at my head, I could see my reflection in his scope's lens. Right before the human could pull the trigger, K-134 managed to shoot the husky driving the motorcycle in his right eye and shot the motorcycle's gas tank, causing a decent explosion. The exploding motorcycle interfered with the human's sights and shot his A.T. rifle through dead center of the tailgate, punching through my force shield, and into my heavy vest. I blacked out almost instantaneously.

* * *

I woke back up in the New Lucerne Tower's infirmary back in Central City to a nurse filling out paperwork before going to lunch. The nurse jumped in surprise when I asked her the time and date. She told me that it has been almost half a year since I got shot in the chest with an A.T. rifle, I'll never eat food again because the round crushed my stomach, totaling it, I still can drink liquids however. In order for my body to get he nutrients required for survival, I have to rely on a portable machine. She told me she will let Kyle know that I regained consciousness, I told her a faint "No." The nurse sent the message out anyway, and Kyle was on his way with a new member who required to meet me. As I laid in bed, I saw the round in a display case on the table next to me. The round stayed intact but the hardened tip shattered, which is why I am not dead yet. About thirty minutes later, Kyle arrived with our new member. Kyle began introducing our new member.

"Good morning, Doc. I would like you to introduce you our new member. Doc, this Dr. Caroll."

I looked at Kyle for a moment then looked around the room and I had to ask him, "Is this some sort of sick joke? Really, where is he?"

"Oh, do I come out now?" A synthesized voice asked Kyle from right behind him.

"Yes, you can come out now." Kyle answered the digital entity and right behind him jumped up a levitating computer. The com looked like a laptop with wing like extensions that are its anti-gravity generators. On the display was two green eyes that followed my hand when I waved at it, behind the eyes on the screen were two small cameras that you have to give close examination to see.

"From what Mr. Easton tells me, you been shot in the chest. Is this true?"

"Yes Dr. Caroll, it is true. The round is on the table next to me in a little display case."

The A.I. levitated swift to the display case and a little pencil width arm ejected out of its base and scanned the round with the arm's built-in scanner.

"14.5 mm, very terrible."

"Yes, Dr. Caroll. Yes it is."

"Pardon us, Dr. Caroll, I need to tell Dr. Kalgan here a serious issue. Doc, I have a feeling Dr. Black wasn't taken by somebody but left on his own instead. And G.U.N. is still denying us access to Shadow. If we don't find Dr. Black and get Shadow, Dr. Black will be on the loose with Earth being his playground and we will not have anything in our possession to stop him. I now have everybody under my authority searching for a way to get to Shadow and find Dr. Black."

"And as for us getting shot down in northern Chun-Nan?"

"We weren't shot down by Chun-Nan forces, those were rebel forces wanting to take us out. I still think Chun-Nan knows more than they let on though."

Two weeks after I regained consciousness in the infirmary, I went back to the Research & Development field for a couple of years. As I was celebrating New Year's, Kyle told me something of great value.

"Dr. Kalgan, we know where Shadow and Dr. Black is, Shadow is now in storage on Prison Island as Dr. Black is somewhere near the North Pole."

I commented excitedly on his great news, "That's great Kyle, does that mean we will get Shadow in our possession?"

"Unfortunately, Doc, that is the only bad news I have. There is no possible way of getting Shadow back without making a big scene, doing so would completely undermine dataDyne."

"I understand Kyle, we know where all of our pieces are, what do you think will be our next move?"

"We wait."

"We what?"

"Wait. We will wait until Shadow is not being guarded, then that is when we will make our move."

"But you know this could be decades before a opporitunity like this opens up Kyle."

Right After I said that line, Kyle took me to another section of the Lucerne Tower over 30 stories below ground level. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I was absolutely speechless at what my eyes are feasting upon. This place had 20 vaults, each with a person's name on it. Below each name was their employee roster number. I saw one that said, "Chicken CHK-1." Right behind me came two guys about to open the door and told to step aside so they can reach the door. I watched as they walked into the vault and pulled out a cart with a baby chick, the staff inspected the chick and the chick survived. The Techs and staff cheered at their accomplishment. I asked one of them how long was that chick frozen, his answer was 10 years. Kyle asked me as I stared into the empty vault, "Is there anybody you would like to say goodbye to? They might be dead by the time you come out so do it now while you can." My happiness turned to sadness as I remember everybody I met in life, they will most likely be dead by the time I get out. Most of the people I knew got killed on ARK so I don't have anybody to say goodbye to anyway. My answer to Kyle was, "No, they already died on ARK. I'm ready as I ever will be." I knew I wasn't ready to kiss the past goodbye, I knew I still had things I wanted to do. I guess I'll have to do it in another time.

Kyle and I walked down to the end of the hall of vaults, my vault had on the door " Ailbe Kalgan A-403" and Kyle's vault had "CEO Kyle Easton CEO-1" on his door. I looked over at Kyle and asked him, "How long are we going to stay in these vaults?" Kyle coldly answered my question with, "As long as it takes." I knew what he meant by that. Right before I walked in, I gave one last line to him, "Hey Kyle, see you when the time comes." He nodded to me in return before I stepped inside my vault. Inside was a bed, a stool, a piece of paper, a pencil, and a pencil sharpener. The paper had written at the top, "List of things to do." I started to make the list, and this is how it went:

1. Go to 10 classical music concerts while chugging the most expensive wine ever made like it was the cheapest beer.

2. Watch all the movies I missed while I was in here.

3. Read an extremely depressing story where a woman cries when she watches her man die.

4. Smoke 100 of the most exotic cigars ever crafted by man.

5. Watch a really bad porno.

6. Pour cans of paint on a 17' x 11' canvas and claim it's art.

7. Be the worst hotel guest ever in the world's most expensive hotel.

8. Use my retirement to buy the City of Las Vegas.

9. Throw a TV and a VCR off of the top of the tallest building in the world.

After making this absurd list, it only made me laugh just long enough for the cryogenics process to freeze me in suspended laughter for over 50 years. 50 years is a long stay in an ice chest. 50 years sleeping in a cold room while everybody else enjoys everyday life out in the warm sun. I wondered what the weather would be like when I got of here before I froze in here. 50 some odd years later, I awaken with my jaw temporarily locked open from laughing before being frozen. I walk out of my vault with Dr. Caroll, Kyle Easton and a few staff members out front to greet me here after being in that ice box for a long time. I still had the do to list in my hand, I put that list in my pocket for later. Everybody in the room shook my hand even though my jaw was still locked, making me look like a cartoon character. I walked down the hall with Kyle to the elevator as I did so long ago. As we went back up to Kyle's office near the top of the building, Kyle told me, "It's been a while hasn't it Doc? There is a lot of new stuff here now." I replied with my mouth froze open, "Es Ile, es it as." "Don't worry, Doc, that'll wear off soon." Kyle assured me as he chuckled at my frozen face.

Soon we were at the correct floor that Kyle's office is on, we stepped out of the elevator and I seen a white-haired janitor. He waved at me as I walked into Kyle's office. I asked Kyle about the janitor and Kyle said that guy only has worked here for five years maybe, that's just his part-time job. In Kyle's office there was three book shelves to the right with books about every civilization that had existed in the past. Standing right next to me was K-134 old armored uniform, Kyle said it still works like a charm but is far antiquated by today's technology. On Kyle's desk next to his lamp was that display case with the round I got shot with so long ago in Northern Chun-Nan. Kyle sat in his big, padded chair as I pulled up a decent chair myself. He overlooked the world out of his window, he asked me with slight anguish in his voice, "Do you remember what happened over 50 years ago? About Shadow?" I answered a bit shyly to his question, "Yes, as if it was yesterday Kyle." Then there was a long pause between Kyle and me, then Kyle spun his chair to me and said, "Good, I think you'll favor what I'm about to give you."

Kyle handed me another manila folder, but it said SHADOW across it this time. I opened it and there was so many photographs, written and photocopied records, and memory cards containing footage of none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. I sifted through the photographs and stumbled a very strange photograph of Shadow and a female bat in a romantic session complete with interspecies sex. Yes, there are a few pictures of this in this folder. Kyle pointed at the picture clearly displaying the female bat happily taking in Shadow's defining feature and asked me, "You see the bat with Shadow? Well that bat's name is Rouge, she is a G.U.N. agent and Shadow, as you can see, gave her what he had to offer. Now Shadow left Rouge by herself and since he did not put a wrapper on it, I can assume you know what that means." It took me a minute to realize what this meant. "Oh." I replied to Kyle as I tried to keep my composure as I just woke up to how Shadow screwed a G.U.N. agent and left her on her own, "What are we going to do about her?" "Simple Doc," Kyle replied, "you are going to watch her, perhaps make friends in the process, and keep me informed about her and let me know when she has Shadow's love child. I have a nice property really close to her. Think of it as a paid vacation, you will not have to do very much."

* * *

And here I am today, at a part-time job that Kyle set me up with. What started out as a simple task has turned into forging a false identity, calculated lies, and multiple cases of deception. I hate doing this to people, why can I just have a simple job that doesn't involve backstabbing, lying, blackmailing,or deception? Well, it's time for me to clock out of my job today. I called Rouge earlier that I would stop by and take her to the hospital today, I might as well make the best of the terrible lie I live before anybody can figure it out, I don't think my lie has long before it crashes on me.


	4. Four 3? Act I

Watching TV and eating ice cream, what a nice combination. I love having everything my way, it's great to just have a day to myself to watch TV and get paid government money at the same time. But I better enjoy this while I can, the little one or ones inside me will be a life changer. I just wish Shadow was here, I miss him very dearly. I know he would make this place much less lifeless than it already is. He always made things exciting, fun, and entertaining. We stole jewels together, went on missions together, just to name a few of the many things we did together. There is much chaos on the news today, sightings of enemy forces crossing over from the north pole somewhere, multiple armed conflicts occurring on the Eastern Hemisphere, and corporations are increasing personal security. I don't know if I'll ever see Shadow again if the instability in this world continues.

_(RING... RING...)_

Damn... somebody's calling, I'd better answer that.

"Hello."

"Hey kid, how's the kids?"

"They're okay gramps, they're exhausting. That's for sure."

"That's good, and that Colonel Gramps to you. Just kidding kid, but me and the Missus were thinking that it would be great to visit ya. You're at home alone and I bet it is a bummer not being very mobile because of the kids."

"It isn't very fun gramps, but that would be great for you to stop by."

"Will do kid, me and the Missus will be there in a bit."

"Okay gramps, catch you later."

"Okay kid, bye."

_(CLICK)_

I love my grandparents, they were the only ones who were there for me. My grandparents raised me since I was a newborn because my mother left me with them, they never told me why she did that. But I do know that she was a big criminal who stole whatever her heart desired, jewelery, precious gems, and money if she felt like it. I know that my mother became a thief partly because she was a kleptomaniac from what my grandma told me. But one day, someone stole her heart over in the east coast somewhere, and then her virginity. Mama's man was a bad boy, tough guy who never spoke a word and never smiled, my grandpa always refers to him as 'Zippy' if I ever bring up my mama in conversation. My grandma mentioned I also had a brother too, but mama and Zippy kept him for an unknown reason, I think I'll never know what became of him. Well, I guess I'll wait until my grandparents stop by. Oh wait, I just remembered! Dr. Kalgan stopping here soon so I can figure out if I'm carrying two instead of one. I know caring for one child is a challenge, but if it is two, I know I'm going to need help. I know I have two breasts so I am already one step ahead that way, but I don't have anything else that will make being a mommy for two any easier.

"Life in your new world, round and round. Making some sense, where there's no sense at all! I give you no promises. But if you should fall."

Crap, it's Kalgan. I better answer that.

"Hello."

"Hey Rouge, I was wondering if you are still up for the ultrasound?"

"I am able to go Doctor. My grandparents will be here in a few minutes."

"Okay then, is it okay to take them along?"

"I think they will be more than willing to come along."

"Sounds good. This could be a good time for me to meet your grandparents.

"Maybe. We'll have to see what they think of you."

"True. I better get off the phone before I get a ticket."

"Bye Doc."

"Good-Bye."

But around here, away from the big city, life is as boring as possible. Low stress and absolute silence depending on the day. Maybe this place will be best for my children, but it will only be a matter of the time before the big city expands and devours this small town. I remember when I was a little bat brat, my grandfather's home almost 30 miles away from any town with a population over 1000. It was very unusual for anybody to even go down the road in front of the house, I loved messing around the small house and running in the open field. There was no animals on our property save the birds that show up from time to time. There was nothing to fear, no need to hide anything, and no reason to hurry where I lived as a little girl. But even with the peace and tranquility, my grandfather acted as if everywhere that had more than me, grandma, and himself, was the big city. He couldn't stand any populated area ever since he left the armed forces right before I was born, I only remember he told me it reminded him of his friend who went missing shortly after basic training. His friend was a human, which was very rare because the humans were never on the greatest of terms with the likes of us. Grandpa had a picture of him with his prized possession, a car he built from wrecked police vehicles at the city wrecking yards.

The car was a non-reflective black, its front end had a big gaping mouth of a grill with two fang-like push guards and the rectangular headlights looked like if the car was very mad and permanently enraged, the car's engine was behind the driver but you could faintly see two huge fans with metal blades in its huge mouth of a grille. His friend's car not only had a very terrifying look, but with one turn of a key, it screamed and roared to life from an absolute silent sleep like a gigantic metal monster rising from a long-winded rest. It was dead for only a little while, but once it awoke from its cold slumber, it was very far from being such. The car roared to life, it screamed a piercing war cry from its supercharger, and it wanted to tear the road it originally protected and enforced in its earlier life as a highway patrol car. The car gave me nightmares as a baby and a young child. In those nightmares, the car chased me from behind with headlights that could give a suntan, the engine's supercharger made a deafening shrill as it closed in on me, then as I was running out of breath, the car dropped its clutch and ran at me with undefinable speed and I always awoke from the bad dream with my vision blinded with a bright light. My grandfather only ran the car on the day that he got the letter that his friend was Missing In Action, he always kept the car in the metal two-story building a little ways away from the house. My grandfather always kept the car in the condition that his friend always had maintained it in. Eventually, the car stopped leaving the garage at all, grandfather said that it not only hurt his hip to work the clutch as he was getting older but it also was very painful to him being in the car because it reminded him of his friend of whom he rode with for such a small but very memorable place in time. The metal monster that I feared as a child has now been sealed away in a steel building, to stay asleep for many years to come. Each time that I visit my grandparents, I always look through the window of the metal shop near their house to see if that car is still in there. The car is in there and always has been in there each time I looked inside. But I know one day, my childhood monster will leave its metal cave, roar back to life, and be free on the road where it once lived.

I wonder how my children will think of the car if it is still around? It wouldn't be surprising if it scares them too, that car been built by a human who wanted a very intimidating car because he was also very threatening from what my grandpa has told me about him. My grandpa's friend was...

_(KNOCK...KNOCK...KNOCK...)_

That could be my grandparents, I better get that. Ooooooooooooh my belly, I think my date is in weeks now. It is pretty painful to get in and out of the chair for the past month, my stomach is so big now it is a challenge just to navigate my house.

"Hello kid. Oh my, I see how much the kids have grown. Are they being a pain?" My grandpa greets me as he just notices my humongous baby bump because he hasn't visited me for a month or two so he's never known how big I've gotten since his last visit.

"My, you're going to have healthy baby. Are you sure there is only one in that big belly of yours?" My grandma speaks in a much younger voice even though she turns 71 next month, she doesn't look older than 40 and acts about a mid twenties girl from her time period. But my grandma goes through a labor intensive process to keep a somewhat youthful appearance, even with the aid of good genetics on her side. My grandpa would look almost like 40 too if he would leave them Marlboro cigarettes alone. He looks about 49-50-ish, but he actually is 65 because his birthday was on the day he last visited me.

"You know, I am having a friend of mine stop by and give me a ride to the hospital. He has never met you two before, maybe this will be a good opportunity for him to meet you."

"He better not be a liberal or a preppie Rouge, you know how grandpa feels about them."

"Who are you callin' grandpa woman? I'm only a grandpa because we have grandchildren and all so watch it grandma because this classic is not dated."

"Grandma! Grandpa! Stop it! You're upssssssetting meeeeee and the kids. If you make me go into labor because of your childish bickering, I will kick your asses after I have the babies."

*pause*

"But this old hag started it."

"Shut the fuck up papa!"

(KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK)

"That's my friend at the door now, you two better behave yourselves."

"Don't worry about me, kid. It's just this woman I'm standing next to."

"Grandpa, stop."

"Are you okay Rouge? It's me, Dr. Kalgan! I'm hearing a bunch of commotion out here, should I call 911?"

"No thanks Doc. My grandparents are here checking on me. Here, I'll get the door for you."

"That's great that your grandparents are showing support. So are you ready to go?"

"I will be in a couple of minutes, hang here with my grandparents while I get ready."

"Okay, take your time. No need to hurry."


	5. Four 3? Act II

"Are you ready, Rouge? We need to leave in 15 minutes."

"Almost done Doc, I just need to get one more thing."

"Okay, your grandparents are getting impatient too."

"C'mon kid, you don't have too long before you have the kid so you better hurry"

"Okay Pop."

"You know, baby, if that guy didn't leave you this way we would have everything figured out."

"That's my problem."

(Rouge walks into the living room were Dr. Kalgan and her grandparents are waiting for her.)

"Well, how do I look?"

"You look ready to figure out what's going on in that big belly of yours baby."

"You look great, Rouge."

"You look fine kid, now let's go."

* * *

I really don't like how my big baby bump makes me so immobile. Being an expecting mother can really wear down my stamina. We start to walk towards Dr. Kalgan's 1980 St. Regis, I'm walking slowly to the car so I don't force myself into early labor and that will be not good to say the least. We get in the car and I sit in the seat behind the driver with grandma next to me while grandpa sits up front with Dr. Kalgan. I really like Kalgan's car, it's very roomy and I have no problem almost laying down back here. I look out of the window of the car and watch suburbia leave as we enter the highway to the big city. The doc has his car's heater on and combined with the slow rocking of the car makes me tired. I'm feeling... tired and... (yawn) sleepy...

"What do you think of New Las Vegas Shadow? I think it's beautiful, especially from the view up here."

"It's beautiful, but it will never be you, Rouge. The Ultimate Wife." Shadow swoons as he caresses me as we watch New Las Vegas from a balcony of a high-rise hotel. It's a beautiful sight too, and I'm glad Shadow's here with me to see it.

"You should need the Ultimate Spouse, since you're The Ultimate Life-form." I continue our romantic conversing while Shadow pours two glasses of champagne."

"And that's why we're here together." Shadow handsomely comments while he slips one glass into my hand as we continue to overlook the New Vegas skyline. "To the Ultimate Couple?"

"To the Ultimate Couple." I whisper softly to my love as we clink our glasses together, our attraction growing stronger with each passing second. I slowly draw closer to give a romantic peck to Shadow on his little nose.

"I think it's getting cold out here, I think we should head back inside and... warm up."

"I think we should cuddle!"

"Whatever you want, my Ultimate Wife."

We head back into the room and Shadow shuts the glass door behind us to block out the activity outside. Shadow and I cuddle lovingly on the bed and Shadow spins himself on top of me and gives me an aroused look. He starts to massage my shoulders before going for my pleasure pair, my breath getting cut short with a playful squeeze from Shadow. With a flick of a wrist, Shadow just undone all my underwear with exceptional speed. He gives me a seductively impish grin and I giggle playfully because this is the first time we are playing with each other.

"What's the matter, gun-shy of the Ultimate Weapon?"

"Just a little, you know this my first time playing 'Hugh Hefner's House'."

"Don't worry, I'll play nice with my little playmate."

It's finally here, my first time. I grow shyer as Shadow draws closer to revoke my V-Card, my eyes widen and I gasp deeply as Shadow and I finally become one with each other. My blood becomes hot from our overheating passion for tying the knot that was left untied for so long. Our friction builds as excitement flows from the glowing action, is this what I have been longing for for such length of time?

"Shad... I don't know if I can keep playing..."

"That means the best part is about to happen."

"...oh...oh... Shadow! This is the best part!"

"And here it is!"

With a swift explosion of energy, we slowly lower down, exhausted. Shadow's pure love flows into me as he cradles me so I go down softly and gently. I tire out from playing 'Hugh's House' and drift into the sea of sleep while in Shadow's arms.

* * *

"Rouge... Rouge... Rouge wake up. We're here, wake up Rouge."

"Hey kid, we're here now."

I wake up from a memorable dream in the back seat of Kalgan's car, which is sitting in front of the hospital. I guess Kalgan does not want me to strain myself too hard because of my pregnancy.

"Hey, Rouge's grandpa, can you escort Rouge down to the office?"

"No problem Doc, you just go park the car."

"Okay, see you inside."

I walk with my grandparents into an empty front office, only two receptionists populated the entire room. It appears to be pretty straight forward with almost no waiting time. We head to the receptionist's desk while the receptionist fills out a private form to music playing on the radio. She looks up at us almost surprised and pulls out a clipboard with some papers on it for us to fill out. "You know, we don't get visitors too often in this wing." The receptionist says, "It worries me a little that there isn't many expecting mothers coming in. But I'm glad you have a little one in your belly."

"But that's the thing," I reply with concern, "I think there's more than one in there."

"Okay then, just fill out this paperwork and we'll see if we can figure this out. I have to say that belly looks a little too big for a woman your size, but we'll see about that."

"Thank you."

On the opposite side of the room from the receptionist desk was a big sofa and a couple of chairs. I take the sofa for myself while my grandparents take the chairs. I lay there as I fill out the paperwork while my grandparents read the magazines that are available in the room. After 10 minutes about, I finally complete the paperwork and have my grandma hand it over to the receptionist. And just over 30 minutes later, a doctor walks up and asks, "Are you Rouge?"

"Yes I am." I answer half awake because I almost fell asleep again.

"Great, I am M.D. Reina Meddlebrook and I will be examining you today," Reina is a tall and thin crane who looks too frail to be working in the medical field.

"Sounds great, Doctor." I get up slowly due to my massive belly that I have to muscle up along with me.

"Good luck kid."

"Let us know how many babies are in there, baby."

"Okay grandma and grandpa, I will." I say to them as I leave with Reina so I can be examined.

I walk with Reina through a series of narrow hallways and corridors until we enter an empty room. Reina shows me a bed and I lay down on it while she gets prepares the proper equipment. She asks me out of curiosity, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be Rouge the Bat who works for G.U.N. wouldn't you?"

"Yes I am Reina, why do you ask that?"

"You will be visited by someone shortly while I get the the equipment from the storage room."

"Oh... um... okay. Do you know who this person is?"

"He says he is sent here to visit you for classified reasons."

"Shit. Is he waiting by the door?"

"Yes in fact, I'll leave you two alone while I retrieve the equipment."

"Okay."

Reina opens the door and invites my surprise visitor to enter the room and tells him, "I'll leave you two alone for about five minutes, okay."

"...okay then." The G.U.N. agent says almost inaudibly.

Reina leaves the room to me and my visitor, who is wearing an all-flat black uniform and stands 6' straight up as if he was still in Basic Combat Training. He has his hands behind his back and wears heavily tinted glasses that completely obscure his eyes. He has a completely blank, expressionless look on his face, he has had a few more years than me working for G.U.N. If all else fails, and Shadow and I are on vacation or needed elsewhere, G.U.N. calls upon Usen to get the job done. And here he is, standing as if a robot in the same room with me.

"So..." Usen says quietly as he stares at me through blackened glasses, some G.U.N. members also claim him as the greatest interrogator due to his psychotic tendencies and lack of personality. G.U.N. members also say he used to be full of life and be very funny but he was shot in the head one day and that changed him forever.

"I assume the Commander sent you."

"It seems so Rouge."

Usen stands there in complete silence for almost one entire minute before pulling his hands out from behind himself, his left was holding a metallic object with a lever and a pin attached to it. And asks me, "Do you know what this is?"

I am in total shock as he brought a fucking hand grenade into a hospital out of all places to bring anything like that. I remain calm and answer his question, "A hand grenade, Usen."

"Correct, it is a Mark II Hand Grenade. It has a kill radius of 15 meters and has only 5 seconds before detonation once the safety-pin is pulled and the lever points up." He says as he pulls the safety-pin but keeps a death grip on the ancient military explosive. "But I will only do one step of arming the grenade, if I detect any false information for any question I ask you, I will let go of the lever, understand?"


	6. Rift 5984

Multiple millennia ahead of the present, dataDyne Corp. rules without mercy behind the high-tech exterior of the future. Only the criminal underworld can rival their power, only limited budgets and low numbers keep the mafias and gangs from battling the mega corporation. But there are some who don't have abundant resources, but still combat the corporate machine.

"How far are we away from the main labs?" A tan, middle-aged man with fading red hair asks a cloaked character. Both are about to make the biggest infiltration of dataDyne since the 21st Century.

"About six floors beneath us is where the labs are. Once we are there, we will see what these scum are up to. What is your name? I would like to know who you are." The cloaked character speaks with a whisper to keep the noise down to avoid detection.

"It's Gene. Gene Starwind. What is yours? And why are you all wrapped up anyway? Are you allergic to the lights?" Gene answers the question following with a wisecrack, a signature attribute of his.

"Once we get to the labs, there will be answers to all of your questions Gene, even my identity."

"You are the type for surprises aren't you?"

"I prefer to make everything clear once we complete the job, it's more secure for me by doing so."

Gene's cloaked associate was notably shorter than him by over two feet. He was almost ninja-like in comparison to Gene thanks to his small profile, being able to hide in very small areas to avoid detection with notable ease. Gene not being able to hide very well like his associate, resorts to using disguises to fool the staff within the building. The two speedily weaved through the offices to the elevator in the south end of the building. Once inside, the associate pushes the button and the elevator rumbles down to the floor with the labs. As the elevator lowers into the depths of the building, Gene and the accomplice prepare for the confrontation about to take place within the labs. The elevator soon reaches the correct floor and the descent into the lower floors reaches its end. The elevator doors slowly open to a hallway with a guard patrolling for intruders. The accomplice draws a 11" bowie-knife from his waistline and throws it with considerable speed into the guards chest, only stunning the surprised guard as Gene shoots him in the head with a silenced machine pistol. The accomplice takes his knife out of the slain guard's chest and the duo hurry to the door at the other end of the hall. As the two wait at the door, Gene's accomplice removes his cloak and reveals his identity. He is a cross-breed of a hedgehog and a bat, wearing a gray-scale camouflage outfit with an earpiece in his left ear. He had youthful emerald eyes which sharply contrasted his weathered body. He remove a stuffed but sealed envelope from his right pocket and handed it over to Gene.

"Take it Gene. After we do what we need to do here, this letter needs to go to Kris. It will explain everything that I have done in my life to her, she will understand once she reads it." The accomplice says as he also hands over a platinum necklace with an emerald jewel coiled within a gold snake. "Take this too, that also needs to get to her along with the letter."

"This is all nice you furry, but what is your name?" Gene asks the accomplice.

"My name is the same name as that jewel. If you don't know what type of jewel this is, Kris will tell you my name once you hand these things over to her."

"Whatever, so why are we here?"

"It's behind this door."

Gene's accomplice opens the door slowly and the two enter into the next room. There is a massive machine that consumes one whole side of the room, Gene and his associate quietly walk on the catwalk that laced the ceiling toward the top of the engineering feat. There are three men and a levitating AI conversing in front of the machine, naïve to the unwanted visitors who just entered. The accomplice whispers Gene what the last plan is as they proceed to the peak of the mechanical marvel.

"You see those three guys, Gene? I will dispose of them and you go down there and collect the AI. The AI is our agent in here, you need to get it out of here because of its valuable information. The machine will start its self-destruct sequence after it activates. One more thing, whatever happens to me, go ahead with my orders I am giving you now. And you know what to do to whoever gets in the way of your escape."

"Got it furry. Now what is this machine?" Gene silently quips as he became mystified of the mountain of hardware.

"Listen in on those guy's conversation, it will be all clear to you as I promised. And here is my earpiece, it will be worthless to me shortly so it will be better if you use it."

On the overhang above, Gene and his accomplice stall above the men in front of the machine. Gene looks around the room for one last time and snaps a series of pictures with a pocket camera before listening in on the people beneath.

"Glad you could be here to help make the biggest technological feat yet Dr. Kalgan." The man in a business suit says to the scientist in a lab coat with absolute satisfaction of the creation towering before them. "Now X-13, do you know what your last mission is? I know I have never had a need to tell you anything twice."

"Infiltrate Dr. Black's base near the North Pole, steal any and all possible examples of enemy technology, create a new identity, and proceed to dataDyne HQ in the past." The tall man in the uniform monotonously answers correctly with absolute seriousness.

"Correct as you always have been X-13, do you know what to do to anybody who jeopardizes your final objectives?" The business suit asks the uniformed man known as X-13.

"Code 187." X-13 answers again with total discipline to his mission.

"Absolute excellence X-13. You are the last dataDyne employee to be employed to us." The business man applauds at what maybe the best soldier ever to have been.

"When you are in the past, go to this address. There will be everything you need to start your final mission. Good luck, X-13." The guy in the lab coat says to X-13 as he hands him a card with an address. X-13 takes the card and places it in his pocket before he steps inside the machine.

"Okay, start Operation McFly... NOW." The business man orders as the machine powers up on his command. Gene's associate tells Gene one more line before they part ways for the final time, "Godspeed, Gene Starwind."

Gene's associate unbuttons his camouflage jacket and ties the arms together around his waist, exposing his tattered wings, jumps off the catwalk, machine gun in hand, and rains down ammunition as he glides around the room. He then swoops down with massive speed at the businessman and the scientist, instantly killing the scientist and mortally wounding the businessman with gunfire. X-13 draws out a handgun and shoots Gene's associate in his wing with surgical precision, causing him to crash land into X-13, and entering the machine. The machine's doors close X-13 and Gene's associate inside the machine as it's about to activate. Gene soon jumps off of the catwalk and lands on his feet in front of the machine, the personnel already evacuated the room not only because of the gunfire, but the machine also will self-destruct once it fulfills its purpose.

Gene looks over at the levitating AI and orders it, "You're coming with me."

The AI responds with, "You came here to get me. We need to leave immediately."

The business man uses his dying breath to say one more line before expiring, "(Cough) Dr. Carroll... (cough) you... (gasp) traitor..."

"Kyle's gone now. We need to leave now." The AI screams over the chaos at Gene.

"You don't need to tell me twice." Gene says as he exits the room with the AI following him from behind.

Gene's associate watches the events through the door and says one last quip before he exits the future, "Run, you beautiful bastard, run."

Within a few seconds, the image of the future gets sucked away into the intense light, forever lost as he's thrown out of the light himself and into the present. He arrives laying down in a park with the gun he just used in the future in his hand. He also has his jacket tied around his waist and his wing injured from being shot. He stands up on his own two feet and looks around, he is now in the present. There are no hover cars, no spaceships, no Gene Starwind, none of that has happened yet. He was about to take his first step in the present, but there was something on the ground he tapped his foot on. He looks down and it's X-13's pistol, he picks it up and inspects it for a little while before placing it in his pocket. He looks around him to see if X-13 is nearby, but there was no X-13 seen. He sees a park bench just a few steps away from himself, he heads to it and sits down. Now able to think to himself, he scans the nighttime skyline of the present. He thinks to himself, "Who should I meet in the past?"


	7. 545 Words

The past, some things change everyday, but the rest never changes. But here I am, before all of what the future brought. Now, I must prepare for what will and even may happen here in the past. What's this? A police car driving into the park, this could not be good. The car continues to drive on the pathway toward me as I sit patiently on the bench. The vehicle stops only but a yard or two away from me, the doors pop open and two police officers step out and say the most famous police officer line, "I'd like to see some ID." But instead of some ID, I will give them a boot to the face as compensation for their troubles. I slowly get up and jump into the air, one officer pulls out his nine in response. He was about to start shooting but my boot hit him in the face first, rendering him unconscious. The second officer was in shock to see something so unexpected. I hop into the driver's seat, put it in drive, and mash the gas pedal. The second officer grabs the door handle and is dragging on the park's pathway at over 30 MPH. I take a sharp turn of the pathway and into a street, the officer loses his grip and flies straight into a pile of trash.

Once again I evade capture, and the best part is I now have an 870 shotgun, an M-16 assault rifle, and a police computer at my disposal. We are making great progress here in the past already. Now to find a safe place to use the computer. Let's see, this parking garage appears safe for a few minutes. Now to find a place to park. No. Not there. Ah, here we are. Back it in and excellent. Okay then, let's use the power of the police records to find what we need. Search "Shadow Hedgehog". Perfect, he has a record on here.

* * *

Shadow Hedgehog, Age: N/A (Appears 25), Height: N/A, Weight: N/A, Current Address: N/A, Last Sighting: Interstate 80 West, Reason for Recent Contact: Speeding 101 MPH in a 65 MPH zone 24 days away from today's date, no ticket issued.

* * *

Okay we now have an approximate area of where he is, now to find him. Okay computer, "Directions to Interstate 80."

"Exit parking garage then turn left."

"Excellent."

Outside of the parking garage, the night sky is fading to the orange glow of the sunrise. Now to get on the highway and go to the next town for a place to rest, but I should go ahead and patch up my shot wing with some wrap and cloth from the First Aid Kit first. I hope Gene gets those things to her, I have never spoke to her ever since I was in my early twenties. I was never there for her, but Ruby, my opposite gender twin always was. But this isn't time to think what would've been, I've got to fulfill my duties and keep from disturbing this era as much as possible. Let's get going, there is no time to waste. I need to leave this city immediately.


	8. Sadness in Shadows & Psycho Games

I ran away from the only person who genuinely loved me. Why did I do that? I'm such an asshole for doing that to my friend. Could it be possible for her to ever forgive me for running away without saying goodbye? Even if she did, how could I make it up to her? I don't know how I would do it though.

"Hey bartender! I need another drink."

"You'd better know how to ride a bike sauced or have a ride home buddy."

"Don't worry about me, stork. I'll be fine."

"The names Shep, prick. And I am a Demoiselle Crane, not some ratty-ass stork. I am more classy, elegant, and well-defined."

"Okay rich saucy-ass, your place, your rules."

"As long as you're paying me to dispense drinks pineapple prick."

I can't believe that even the bartender insults me by simply calling him a stork. What's the difference between a stork and a crane anyway? Does it even matter? I may never live down this low so why bother?

"Hello Shep, I see your business is doing well. Is anybody giving you trouble?"

"Well if it isn't little Miss Outlaw Reggie, how can I serve you kid? Oh and that black asshole down at the end of the bar there maybe about to start something. I slid him a drink but I think I'll cut him off now."

"Pour me some carbonated water while I see if there is any sense left in him. If he tries something I'll pop him with my .50!"

"Well don't kill him Reggie! I have enough problems with police as it is."

"Hey dick head! You starting trouble? I'll give you trouble if you don't shape up!"

"What's it to..."

I stop at mid-sentence at disbelief that a young near-Black Cobalt Echidna is making a stand for herself and her friend, the bartender. But for a girl who has such a supermodel physique, she is very brave to look at me in the eyes and even threaten to harm me. I could take her down easy, but I'm too smashed to fight her. Besides, I am a major ass so I deserve being punched around for leaving my friend when she needs me most.

"Aren't you Reggie, that girl who shown her slit in this month's magazine? You shoved all them things in ya. How many guys did you pound to end up in one issue?"

"Actually you piece of shit, I didn't let them snobs take my V-Card. I only let those who are worthy to soil my eggs, and so far nobody on this planet counting a sorry shit cactus such as yourself is going to change my mind about that. You may jump all these other people's bones like that silly bat Shadow, but I can guarantee you this, even you will never come close to what I need for a man."

"You dare make fun of Rouge!? I may haven't been by her side as of late but I will still stand for her. Okay bitch, prepare for punishment for being a foolish girl by the ultimate life-form!"

"Entertain me, prick."

"Chhhhhhaaaoooooosssssshhhh... Sprea..."

_SMASH!_

"I'm sorry, but I think my fist beat you to the punch. I don't think your fancy moves will work when you're a drunken idiot. But if you want to use silly things like that, I will unleash my potential. Now, my turn."

"What are going to do to me? Such my dick?"

"No. P... K... Super... Power!"

She lift me up with incredulous strength, and with intensifying force, throws me out through the open bar doors. I sail out into a parked car and collide with metaphysical energy. The car crumpled up like a piece of paper and rolled on its side. I was just thrown out like trash but that Echidna's inner strength I cannot deny.

"Reggie! What did you do to him!?"

"Shep, do you have that glass of carbonated water ready?"

"Um... yes Reggie. But what happened?"

"Pass over the glass before I faint, I'll explain once I get a drink."

Her power is immensely impressive. I'm running out of strength to stay awake, must... not... blah... ow...

* * *

Where am I, it seems I am in a hotel someplace. I don't know how I ended up here. Somebody patched up my chest and arm, how did I even injure them in the first place? There are female undergarments on the bed next to mine, I am alone in here. Whoever is my roommate left the TV on the news channel, they were sure nice to place the remote far away from me. Bitch. I hear the shower running in the bathroom, she is washing up for another day of activities is my guess.

"I can telepathically mind rape you Shadow, you cannot hide secrets from me. I can drive you insane if I want to, don't ever try to run from me. No speed or distance can outrun the power of my mind."

My mind just got infiltrated by a intruding feminine voice, she sounds very familiar yet I cannot recall where I heard it before. I am already uncomfortable just by how everything around me just oozes with suspicion. Female underwear on the bed, running shower, TV on the news with the remote placed away from me, covered in bandages with no explicable reason, this doesn't look shady at all.

"Do you know how cute you sound when you think to yourself, Shad. I think I'll finally walk out of the shower and see you face to face, I bet your expression is priceless."

She pierces and intrudes into my mind without warning once again, I think her tearing into my mind is entertainment for a girl such as herself. I think I'll have to get used to these unwanted intrusions. I hear the shower turn off after running for about 30 minutes, it's very convenient how the news channel displays the time so I can count the minutes. I also hear my roommate stepping out of the shower out of the shower with very light footsteps. I slowly turn to the open bathroom door with steam flowing out of it, and a very young Midnight Blue feminine Echidna struts out with no towel to cover up with. She must obviously not care about modesty, she just has her breasts and her soft spot without any cover for those whoever can see.

"I know most girls would cover themselves to avoid revealing their reproductive parts. I don't mind if mine aren't covered because I am not embarrassed about the very things that make me a woman. And you're the only one who can see me anyway and that does not bother me one bit."

The girl uses the same voice as the one that penetrated my mind just a few minutes ago. But at least she is actually speaking this time instead of using her mind molestation powers as she did earlier. But one question still bothers me,

"Who are you? What is your business with me?"

"I bet you are too intoxicated to remember, were you? I don't mind telling you my name again, the name is Reggie. You got it? Good. And I need to use you for something."

"Woah bitch, nobody uses me."

"I think I can persuade you, Shadow. Even with your impressive abilities, you're still pretty pathetic."

"Oh yeah, you want to try me go ahead."

"I'll make you understand, now cover your ears."

"Whatever."

"...SCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH HHH!"

"Ow! Fuck! Make it stop! I'm getting a migraine!"

"Now Shadow, what did you learn from what just happened?

"You are a real bitch."

"Classic answer, Shadow. But if you try to run away or disobey me you will experience that again. I can even make it hurt more if needed. I can assure you that hearing protection will not soften it because that noise goes directly to your brain. Now Shadow, are you paying attention or do you want an encore performance?"

"...yes. I'll listen."

"Good boy. Now, I want you to do a few things for me. I will tell you what to do as the time comes for each assignment to be completed. They are not hard to complete according to your abilities. Once you complete the couple of assignments I have for you, then I will be nice and let you go. Maybe I'll even help you with your relationship with your... potential wife."

"Okay, what do you want me to do since I'm your slave."

"You see that nice little bank over there?"

"Yes."

"Rob it."

"...what?"

"You're going to fucking do it."

"Okay, how much do you want?"

"As much as you can carry. Now fetch my slave!"


	9. More Psycho Games

I can't believe I'm doing this shit, that bitch is a fucking bitch. You know since I'm out here, I'm going to make a run for it.

"Are you sure you want to do that Shadow? I can make you hurt immensely. Are you sure you want to hurt yourself by defying me?"

"Screw you bitch! Watch me make a run for it!"

"Fine. I'll give you five seconds to reconsider your decision. You can either play along or I can hurt you again."

"Fuck you!"

"Okay. 5..."

I'm running as fast as I can, I just went over 10 miles.

"4..."

Make that 25 miles.

"3..."

Almost 70.

"2..."

140.

"1... You can stop this now Shadow, this doesn't have to happen."

"Stop mind raping me!"

"0... Okay, time to hit the brakes! ...SCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH HHH!"

"Stop doing this to me! Why do you persist to torture me you fucking bitch?"

"You brought this upon yourself Shadow, only if you played along. I think you have had a bad habit of running Shadow. You keep running from your problems, just like you ran away from her. Admit it, you may be the ultimate, but you are NOT perfect!"

"You fucking whore, I didn't run away, I needed to think to myself about what I did."

"You're lying, why did you run away from her? I know the answer but you should say it. It will make you feel better. I WILL hurt you more if you don't do it."

"Bring it on, BITCH! You cannot hurt me more that the fact I ran from Rouge and left her pregnant with my child!"

"Why did you do it, Shadow? Do you know how much that hurts her!? You will know the level of pain if you do not say why.

"Do it to me, Bitch! You fucking whore! You love hurting me don't you? Go ahead, do it!"

"If this is what it's going to take, then so be it. ...SCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH HHH! Now, Shadow the Hedgehog, why did you run from Rouge who is pregnant with your baby?"

"Maria! MARIA! Make it stop! MARRRRRRIIIIIA!"

"What does Maria have to do with this Shadow?"

"(sob)...I loved her, Maria meant everything to me... (sob) she was beautiful, loving, she was the only one I had in my life, but then (sob) she got taken away from me... I'd thought there would be nobody else who I would feel that way for... but Rouge soon entered my life and I somehow grew the same love again... the love I had for Maria... Rouge at least was able to fend for herself so I felt it was okay...(sob) then my love grew with her love and then I impregnated her with my baby...(sob) as the months of her pregnancy made her less able for her to protect herself... she worried me... and then I heard that women can die while having the baby and even the baby could die too... scared me away from her... the person that I love so much might die helplessly... just as Maria did... and now I'm not even there to support Rouge and my baby... "

"Shadow... even though I knew why you did that, you saying that was the best thing I ever heard anyone say."

"You satisfied now... bitch?"

"Well... not yet, you didn't rob the bank. However... you showed me you're not heartless, but scared."

"You suck."

"And you ran away. From your loved ones out of all people to run from! What does that make you? Let me guess... a runner."

"..."

"Well... Shad, that bank isn't going to rob itself."

"Can you give me a few minutes, you've just fucking cerebral-raped me hard."

"I'll give you 15 minutes, deal?"

"Fine. 15 minutes."

* * *

It really is a shame that Shadow, the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life-form is ultimately no match for my PSI powers. It's a shame really, I expected a better fight, but I did not fight him fairly due to his intoxication last night so I was already at an advantage. Maybe we can fight on better terms some day, but I doubt it. But also, even if there was the opportunity to rematch, I'd have to resort to my PSI Powers to even be able to compete. Even with my PSI powers, Shadow would still be a challenge if the fight was on level ground. But I have thought about Shadow for too long now, I should give my powers a cool down by watching the news.

"In other news, after more than 50 years of being frozen in cryogenics, Ben, will finally be put to death due to his contribution of the disaster on ARK. He will be put to death by firing squa... OH SHIT HE'S GOT A..."

_RATATATATATATATATATATATATATA _

"You think you can kill me!? Fools! I'll kill you first for what you did to me!"

_BEEP_

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a terrible unforeseen change in events... stay tuned for updates as we set up live video connection."

TV sure has turned up the violence over the years.


	10. Violent Parole

"Warning: Prison break in progress! Prison break in progress! Inmates armed and dangerous! Repeat, armed and dangerous!"

That's right, they better watch out when a former G.U.N. has a gun. I'll chop them down for what the did to me so long ago, none will go unpunished. Once I get out of this cell block, they will know the wrath of MSGT Ben the German Shepherd. Let's see, now to set all the rest of the inmates on the loose. They thought it was fucking hilarious to freeze my ass for half a century then kill me off now, guess who's laughing now assholes.

"Ben, do you hear me? This is Yuri. Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear my Mexican kitty, are you near the monster?"

"Waiting for you to stop playing with your balls and get over here! The prison guards aren't fucking around here!"

"On my way, stay put."

Oh yeah, watching them guards frantically resist the onslaught of inmates is absolute entertainment as I make my way to the next block. Racking up kills as I move with my confiscated AR-10, pounding their bodies with loads of 7.62 NATO ammunition. I'm glad the cryogenics preserved my muscle, it's all I can do to keep the kick of this weapon manageable. As I run blindly in a vengeance-fueled rage with testosterone-induced painlessness, a squad of prison riot guards pour out of the corridor ahead of me armed with shotguns and teargas bombs. I empty ammunition into them, only killing half of them. My rifle ran the clip dry so I had to dash behind a concrete column for cover as I pop in a new clip. The combat shotguns blast the concrete to chunks with buckshot, I roll out from behind and respond with a full rifle and terminate the rest of the guards. I run up to the pile of slain guards and steal one of the combat shotguns and some extra shells, wasting no time as I continue through the corridor with the shotgun in my hands and the AR swinging on my back.

The corridor leads to a walkway that spans the roof from one cell block to the next, I run across it as fast I could ever run. I could see all the inmates on the ground running to a barricade set up by the prison guards. Even with massive losses on the inmates' side, they soon overtake the blockade only by sheer numbers. I make it into the next block which its located next to the rock yard. Inside this prison block is the monster G.U.N. has kept locked here for only about less than a few years. This monster is a massive 10'+ tall Pit-bull that was found god knows where, but they use it to cut massive boulders to mere gravel for the inmates to collect for construction purposes. But the only problem is that this monster dog isn't allowed to speak with anybody else but with the caretaker, who is a cat by the name of Yuri. Yuri and this monster are now waiting for me just a few floors down, in the basement.

"Where the fuck are you Ben? Stop fucking around _pendejo_!"

"I'm just above you Yuri, it isn't long now."

"Fucking move your butt!"

As I slide and run down the stairs and descend into the basement, I can hear the roar of gunfire a little ways away from the bottom of the stairs. Once down there, I stand behind a whole platoon of guards shooting down the hallway with many light and heavy machine guns and assault rifles. I shoot them all with swift blasts from my stolen combat shotgun, wiping out the barrier from behind and taking them by surprise. I jump over the downed guards and run at full speed up to Yuri who was waiting at the massive vault door which contained the monster Yuri took care of for the prison. Yuri pulls down the steel latch and the towering door swings open slowly, revealing a huge silhouette of the beast who waits inside. Yuri steps in front of the gigantic opening and starts calling it by its name,

"Brutus, come here boy. It's me Yuri."

A growling response came out from inside, "Yuri?"

"Yes Brutus, it's time... to play."

"Play?"

"Yes, remember our promise? We were going to play outside today."

"Play! I want to play!"

Without no warning, the massive Pit-bull jumps out of the huge cell and lands right in front of Yuri. Brutus stands with his head about to hit the ceiling with a shit-eating grin on his face and his wide open eyes locked onto Yuri. The monster dog had no shirt to wear but he did wear very big pants and boots with restraint bracelets on his wrists, ankles, and around his neck. Brutus is one huge muscle locomotive with fists the size of my entire body and his arms the thickness of concrete pillars. I think Brutus isn't a monster because he's just too damn big to be called a monster. Brutus looks down at Yuri with idolizing eyes and grunts her a question,

"What game we play?"

Yuri thinks for a minute before answering wittingly, "Did you forget again? We are going to play the freedom game!"

"The freedom game?"

I ask Yuri, "What's the freedom game?"

She whispers to me, "The one we've been playing all day dumb-ass."

Yuri returns to her idolizing Brutus "Yes Brutus, today's the special day where we play the freedom game, do you remember how to play the freedom game?"

Brutus grunts almost incoherently, "I think so, um... do I get to break stuff? Is it that game?"

"You do Brutus! But you get to break new stuff in this game! You can punch the ceiling now!"

"Cool!" Brutus happily slugs a hole through the ceiling big enough to drive a tour bus through. "Did I win?"

"Not yet, now you got to take me and Ben here and put us in the ceiling now!"

"Okay!" Brutus energetically snatches us in his big hands and surprising sets us down gently into the first floor.

"Did I win now?"

"Not quite yet, now you got to go up here with us now!"

"Okay!" Brutus crawls up into the now cramped first floor and asks Yuri once again, "Did I win _now_?"

"Almost, now do you see that small door Brutus?"

"Why is the door small?"

"Because your going to run through the small door and make it big! And then you are going to keep running until you are outside!"

"Do I get to break more stuff?"

"Yes you do, you get to break this whole building! And I know how much you wanted to do that!"

"I love this game!" Brutus roars with delight as he proceeds to demolish the fucking building.

"We better get out of here Ben, this building won't last long!"

The whole building rumbles as Brutus continues to demolish the building and reduce it to rubble. Yuri and I waste no time to evacuate the building through the massive hold Brutus made through to the outside. There's massive carnage out there and we need to leave before things get much worse. But to our good fortunes there was a 6X6 truck parked to our left, it even had a canvas covering over the bed too.

"There's some wheels! Come on Yuri, hop in!"

"Okay Brutus, it's time to go! Get in the back!"

"Awww... okay..."

The truck shifts and shakes as Brutus climbs into the covered bed and lays down in there. I start the truck and mash the pedal so we can GTFO immediately. As I was driving toward the gate, I could see the rest of the inmates running to the gate. I plow through the gate with my foot to the floor and we begin our new journey, our journey of freedom with a new chance at life. As we drive to the nearest exit ramp into I-80 East, I look over at Yuri and we start a conversation,

"Well Yuri, what do you think you'll do now that we are all free again?"

"I would love to visit my sister Veronica, I know she can make something good to eat. I know she has an awesome nail business I might work at. I'll probably have to take Brutus with me from now on. How about yourself? I assume you have that pie in the sky you're looking for."

"I wish I had something like that Yuri, but my life is too far fucked up. I have some scores to settle before I can remotely fantasize about any of that."

"I understand, somebody screw you?"

"A big group of people did, and I will deal with all of them."

"Well good luck with that Ben. If you want to know where I'll be heading, I'm going to Santa Leo, that's where my sister is. Maybe you should stop by sometime once you set things straight."

"Well Santa Leo is I-80 West, I'll let you take the truck once we find the gas station."

"Are you sure about that Ben?"

"This truck is the only vehicle that can transport Brutus."

"I see."

"Well the gas station is coming up, do you know how to drive stick Yuri?"

"Of course I do, how do you think I ended up in prison?"

"Oh. Well, here's the gas station. I guess this is where we part ways."

"I wouldn't say we will part ways for good, Ben. Life is very funny sometimes, I feel we may meet again someday."

"Anyway Yuri, I cannot thank you enough for working with me. I can assure you I'll never forget you. I guess this is goodbye."

_"Si, adios amigo. ¿Hasta luego?"_

"Until we meet again, Senorita Yuri!"_  
_

A sad feeling overcame me as I watch Yuri head on I-80 west. For somebody I had acquainted myself with in such a short time, we just had worked together to renew ourselves and walk out as new people in a new world. But it was for the better of me as well as Yuri to split up because it'll make it harder for them to find us. And so I begin to leave the gas station on foot and head down the road that leads to some train tracks half a mile away. But being the former G.U.N. soldier that I am, a half mile is nothing. So I begin to run once again, but I am running to something for once. Only a few minutes later I make it to the train tracks, and I just went to the middle of the railroad crossing and I stand there for a little while. At the tracks heading west I see headlights of a train, but it must be over five miles away. It just dawned on me that I still have the shotgun and AR-10, I won't hijack the train though. But I think I'll hang onto those as keepsakes as one of the best days of my life. I idly stand next to the crossing lights as the train continues east. In less than a minute, the crossing lights turn on and begin to ring and I get ready to hop on the train. When the third locomotive was about to pass me, I jump on the ladder furthest away from the cab.

I climb up on the front of the engine which pointed away from the front of the train and head into the cab. Inside the cab was coveralls hanging over the seat, I promptly slip it on and zip it up. Now I have some new clothes covering my inmate wear. It feels good to be on the outside again, but I know I am not free. They are out there, looking for me, trying to hunt me down. But I'll hunt them all down before they get some red pouring out. Watch out Shadow, even if you are still around and whoever else is still around to put me back, think again, I'll have to die before I go back.


	11. Four 3? Act III

"Correct, it is a Mark II Hand Grenade. It has a kill radius of 15 meters and has only 5 seconds before detonation once the safety-pin is pulled and the lever points up." Usen says as he pulls the safety-pin but keeps a death grip on the ancient military explosive. "But I will only do one step of arming the grenade, if I detect any false information for any question I ask you, I will let go of the lever, understand?"

"I do understand Usen, but why are you putting all of our lives at stake? We're both G.U.N. Agents here, this isn't necessary." I ask him with total confusion due to the situation that has just unfolded right before me. I also attempt to reason with him, but I don't think it will work.

"Yes we ARE both G.U.N. Agents, that's why you shouldn't have a problem answering correctly." Usen answers coldly and mechanically, "Since we are here together and you ARE becoming a mother, Agent Rouge, I think I should ask you one thing, have you ever heard of the Judgement of Solomon?"

"I don't read the bible Usen so I wouldn't ever know the story." I reply.

"But Agent Rouge, I think you should know this story. After all, aren't you about to be a mother?" He speaks while slipping his pinky finger off of the lever, leaving three fingers and his thumb on the half-armed explosive. "But since you really don't know, I will tell you the story. I think you should be getting used to story time. In a distant land, long ago, lived a king. King Solomon was his name, and in his kingdom, two women both had one child each. One woman's child died, one woman's child lived. Soon, the two women fought over the living child, and eventually this issue reaches King Solomon. After some thought, King Solomon brought a sword and decide to cut the living child in half. The lying mother wanted King Solomon to do so, but the true mother stepped forward and begged the king to not do it. After witnessing the true mother wanting the child to live, King Solomon handed the baby to the honest mother and restored order to his kingdom. And after telling you this story Agent Rouge, I think that your unborn children should give you extra incentive to be honest."

"Okay... so what do you want to get out of me?" I ask Usen absolutely mystified of where he is going with this whole scenario.

"Agent Rouge... I'm so disappointed of you. After all, you are the one to lose your patience." Answering my question as he slips his ring finger off of the grenade's lever, only three fingers stay on the bomb. "But here at G.U.N., especially our commander, would absolutely love to know one thing Agent Rouge. Would you happen to know where Shadow is by any chance? I mean you are going to give birth to his baby soon, right?"

"I... I... don't know Usen. I don't know where Shadow went, he disappeared one day."

"But Agent Rouge, shouldn't you know where your baby's daddy is what if the little thing is born without its daddy?"

"I'm being honest to you Usen, I don't know where Shadow is."

"Come on now Rouge, I think you know more than you let on. Think of Shadow, Agent Rouge, your and his baby's life depends on it. Maybe I don't need my middle finger on this lever after all since only two fingers suffice on holding it down."

"Usen... please... don't do this to us, Shadow drove away on his motorcycle and went down the highway one day and hasn't come back."

"Now we are getting somewhere Rouge, but answer me this, there are hundreds upon hundreds of highways in our country, do you have an idea which particular highway he would prefer to ride on?"

"I don't know Usen, I have no idea."

"Okay, I guess only my thumb can hold the lever down just fine."

"Don't do this Usen."

"Do do this Usen, unless you don't want to cheat the baby out of life. I can see it now, Shadow utterly destroyed that his wife-to-be has died in a terrorist attack along with his unborn baby. That would certainly be the highlight of his life."

"He's on I-80."

"I what?"

"Interstate 80, Shadow and I went on that highway together. If he would be on any highway, it would be that one."

"See Agent Rouge, now we have an idea where he is and with your help, I think we can find Shadow before the baby's born. Now to put the safety-pin back in the... whoops!"

"USEN! WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION!? DID THAT SHOT TO THE HEAD KILL YOUR SANITY AND COMMON SENSE!?" I scream at Usen for one last time before we die. Shadow, I hope you know me and the baby will be in a better place in a few seconds.

_Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick RIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

What the fuck? No explosion?

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha, you fell for this silly toy? You're fucking face was just priceless!"_  
_

"You motherfucker! Don't you fucking dare play shit like that on me ever again Usen! That fucking wasn't funny! I thought I was going to die you fucking dick! What if that shit made me go into labor? How could you do that whole thing without cracking a smile?"

"Oh Agent Rouge, do you know what the best part is about this?"

"The fact that I'm still alive comes to mind."

"My cybernetic eye is recording all of this, in 1080p!"

"You fucking cocksucker! What the fuck!?"

"Ooooooooooooooooo... watch out Agent Rouge, you may go into labor. Ahahahahahahaha. But seriously, I do have a real one on me."

"You piece of shit!"

"There's a reason why I'm also the fucking Psychologist for G.U.N., I'm hired to fuck with people to see if they're fit to be in service. I'm also hired to interrogate people if needed, it's obvious that I haven't lost my touch."

"Get the fuck out of here..."

"Oh my five minutes are almost up anyway but here's a little something-something I think you should know. Your baby, has to be registered to G.U.N. once it's born, you know, since it's Shadow's baby too."

"Usen... one last thing, please don't do that again, (sniff) that really scared me. (sniff) I'm pregnant and that isn't good for a girl like me to go through anything like that. (sniff) Please, I'll tell you anything as long as you don't pull a stunt like that (sniff sniff) again. It also made me almost cry."

"Don't worry about it Agent Rouge, I only use the real tools on people who are way harder to crack. Okay, have a good day. Oh, you can have this toy hand grenade and $1000 for your troubles, I'll sit it on the desk for you."

"Thanks, later Agent Usen."

"What's going on in there, are you okay Rouge?"

"Shit, it's the doc, I'm going to have to explain myself with this one." Usen says with disgust as he opens the door for the nurse.

"What happened Rouge, I heard your screaming from down the hall?" M.D. Reina walks in and worriedly asks me as she rolls the equipment inside with us.

"Don't worry about it doc, she wasn't expecting a visit from me. That's all." Usen answers Reina's question.

"You can say that again." I give a smart-ass remark to what Usen said to the nurse.

"Don't worry about it doc, she wasn't expecting a visit from me. That's all." Usen says again even though I didn't literally mean for him to say it again.

"Well, anyhow. I got the equipment to see what is going on in that humongous belly of yours Rouge so we can figure out the conditions of your pregnancy."

"Mind if I could watch this too doc?" Usen asks Reina as he sits on the desk.

"Since you're Rouge's co-worker, that's your call."

Reina starts setting up the ultrasound machine and sets up the monitor where we all can see it. Reina then puts some cream on my inflated stomach, so the sensor can work properly. Within a few minutes, the sensor finds two babies inside me. The doc looks overs, saying, "Well, here's why you're so huge! You got two inside of you! But I am not going to lie to you Rouge, your womb has all it wants. You may have a hard time getting those babies out, they're in there pretty packed."

"What makes you say that?" I become scared as Reina tells me my babies' birth could be trouble.

"Well Rouge, you may have a hard time pushing them out, but if you're strong enough, this shouldn't be too much of an issue."

"Okay, so how much longer do I have?" I ask Reina, becoming even more nervous as her pause lengthens.

"Well... I don't know how else to say it Rouge, you really don't have long. You're looking at a week at the very least and maybe three weeks at the most. If you want to do a baby shower or call family and friends, I highly recommend you do it right away."

"Thank you Reina."

"No problem Rouge, see you in a little while."

"Well Rouge, I guess I better head out, I got assignments to complete."

"Okay, Usen. Bye." Usen runs out the door, I'd never seen Usen act that way before. He has never ran like that before.

"Don't worry Rouge, I'll escort you to the waiting room."

As I walk out of the door I still see Usen running down the hall, but I can hear him talking on the phone even though he's pretty far away from me.

"Night Rain, this is Psi Scythe. Commence Operation: Shadow Trace! What? What do you mean you already know where he is?"

"Shadow Trace?" I thought to myself, that name really worries me somehow. That whole name spells suspicion. Could Usen have turned coats?


	12. Four 3? Act IV

"Commence Operation: Shadow Trace"

"Interstate 80, Shadow and I went on that highway together. If he would be on any highway, it would be that one."

"Hey kid, how's the kids?"

"That's great that your grandparents are showing support. So are you ready to go?"

"Just a little, you know this my first time playing 'Hugh Hefner's House'."

"Correct, it is a Mark II Hand Grenade. It has a kill radius of 15 meters and has only 5 seconds before detonation once the safety-pin is pulled and the lever points up."

"Is it time!?"

"Shad... I don't know if I can keep playing..."

"That means the best part is about to happen."

"...oh...oh... Shadow! This is the best part!"

"But Agent Rouge, I think you should know this story. After all, aren't you about to be a mother?"

"Great, I am M.D. Reina Meddlebrook and I will be examining you today."

"I do understand Usen, but why are you putting all of our lives at stake? We're both G.U.N. Agents here, this isn't necessary."

"But Agent Rouge, shouldn't you know where your baby's daddy is what if the little thing is born without its daddy?"

"What? What do you mean you already know where he is?"

"What's the matter, gun-shy of the Ultimate Weapon?"

"But I will only do one step of arming the grenade, if I detect any false information for any question I ask you, I will let go of the lever, understand?"

"No problem Doc, you just go park the car."

"Well... I don't know how else to say it Rouge, you really don't have long. You're looking at a week at the very least and maybe three weeks at the most."

"I can see it now, Shadow utterly destroyed that his wife-to-be has died in a terrorist attack along with his unborn baby. That would certainly be the highlight of his life."

"Don't do this Usen."

"Your baby, has to be registered to G.U.N. once it's born, you know, since it's Shadow's baby too."

"See Agent Rouge, now we have an idea where he is and with your help, I think we can find Shadow before the baby's born."

"Commence Operation: Shadow Trace"

"Commence Operation: Shadow Trace"

"Night Rain, this is Operation: Shadow Trace"

"Night Rain, what do you mean you already know where he is?"

"I can see it now, Shadow utterly destroyed that his Shadow Trace has died in a terrorist attack along with his unborn baby, you know, since it's Shadow's baby too."

"Correct, it is Night Rain. It has a kill radius of Shadow and has only 5 seconds before Operation: Shadow Trace"

"See Agent Rouge, now we have an idea where he is and with your help, I think we can Commence Operation: Shadow Trace"

"Shadow Trace"

"Shadow Trace"

"Shadow Trace"

* * *

"Rouge wake up! Rouge, wake up! We are at your house now! You have some friends who would like to see you."

"You remember me Rouge? It's me, Tails! C'mon, wake up please! I brought Amy along too, she wanted to visit too."

"You know me, don't you. Remember? You called me 'Pinky' and Tails 'Fox Boy'. Rouge wake up, we got a nice gift for you."

I open my eyes and see Amy, Tails, and Dr. Kalgan looming over me. I already am not liking this, I'm already in my La-Z-Boy in my house and there is people looking over me.

"Wha... can't you see I'm sleeping? Why would you two want to ever visit me anyway? I was... you know... a bitch."

"Well, we couldn't turn you down Rouge. Like it or not, you really need us. You've had a terrible few months from what Dr. Cuckoo tells us."

"It's Kalgan..."

"Well, why would you still persist to help me, especially you two? Can't you obviously tell I was horrible to you two?"

"Because what Shad..."

"Tails!? Don't bring him up around her, you know what he did to her."

"Sorry Amy."

"If it's because of how Shadow left me pregnant, that's fine. And why is it only you two anyway? And what happened to Knuckles and Sonic? Those two are always with you Tails?"

"Well, Sonic disappeared a few months ago and we offered Knuckles a ride but he decided to walk anyways. We gave him directions but I guess he got lost, and I never heard from Sonic since he disappeared. Amy can assure you that even she hasn't seen Sonic anywhere."

"While I am not surprised about Knuckles, he always was kinda dim. But Sonic, now that's odd." I honestly cannot believe that Sonic would pull a disappearing act on Tails and Knuckles. "So you two say you got me a nice gift? Do you mind if I can see it? I really cannot get up without risking... you know... breaking my water."

"Sure. Amy can you bring mama-to-be Rouge her first gift?"

"Okay."

"Wait, hold up. You got me more than one gift?"

"Well, duh Rouge. We know how much you love getting stuff." Even though that was coming from Amy, I cannot believe Tails and Amy would do anything close to this. I was quite obviously mean to them, why are these two still being this nice to me?

_KNOCK... KNOCK..._

"Tails, can you get the door while I get Rouge's gift? I think that could be Knuckles."

"Okay Amy." I wonder who would be knocking on the door? It better be Knuckles, I've had enough shit for one day.

"Hello. Oh my, Knuckles, what happened to you?" Tails' face turns to absolute shock as it is Knuckles, but Knuckles really got beat up on the way here. Knuckles' body is covered in punch marks, he even got a bloody nose and more blood seeps through his lips. Knuckles made it here, but he is a bloody, black and blue mess. Who could even hit Knuckles that hard, let alone how could they get so many hits on him?

Knuckles stood there just long enough to say, "Hey... Tails... I... made... it..." before fainting from his injuries.

Dr. Kalgan, just noticing what is happening at the door, runs to Knuckles' side to help out.

Tails keeps slapping Knuckles to keep him conscious, but it isn't working, Knuckles is out like a light.

Amy hurries over to me and hands me a small gift box before joining Kalgan and Tails in assisting Knuckles. All three combine their strength and lift Knuckles to the couch so he isn't on the ground anymore. Knuckles finally regains consciousness and begins groaning from his bruises unavoidably touching the couch. Tails starts speaking to Knuckles to help him stay awake, "Who did this to you Knuckles? Can you say anything? Speak to us Knuckles!"

Knuckles starts to dizzily talk, "There was only five of them, then they grew to ten, then twenty, then even more than I could count. They kept coming, they came in black cars, dress black, they ran at me from all directions. I fought them off as hard as I could, but one of them was different from the rest. He was mostly made of metal, but he also was flesh in some places. I punched that armored man with all my might, but he didn't dent in much to matter, it didn't stop him."

When Knuckles said dress black, the image of Usen instantaneously recalls itself, he also wore black. Does Usen have anything to do with Knuckles' attack? But out of anybody to attack, why Knuckles? This isn't making any sense.

"Knuckles will be okay," Kalgan says after examining Knuckles' injuries, "but he needs to sleep off his injuries. he's just been pummeled bad is all."

The armored man Knuckles speaks of scares Amy because not even Knuckles' massive strength shut him down. "But that armored man, will he show up here next?"

"Whoever this 'armored man' is, he won't stand a match for Rouge's second present," Tails reassures Amy and everybody else, "Omega, it's time."

A mechanical voice from the attached garage speaks, "Booting... boot complete." Without warning, a big robot walks through the closed door that connects the garage to the rest of the house. The huge machine towers high that it almost goes through the ceiling of the house. It appears to be Omega, but there are shiny new parts and its paint job has been altered and waxed for a showroom shine. The normal red paint has now been replaced with a less vibrant red. It's new replacement bearings are much quieter, making almost no noise. Its visual, audio, and motion sensors appear to be up to date too.

Tails looks over at the new robot with disappointment, "Omega, why did you not open the door first?"

"The door was too small, orange forest creature," the robot says with its new synthetic voice modulator, "the door had to be upgraded. Where is the party?"

Tails face-plams as the robot doesn't figure out that this is the party. Amy kindly tells the oblivious machine, "Um... Omega... you are at the party."

The robot searches the room for something, then it sights me in once its head stops in my direction, its lifeform detectors seem to have a faster detect rate. The shiny mecha walks to me, but softly and with impressive foot control. Then the bot reaches out to me with its right polished claw but stops right in front of my face. I touch the restored arm with my hands, then the machine responds with auto-reduced volume, "I sense your soft hands contacting my right arm. Are you the flying white mammal that is stored in my records?"

I couldn't believe what I am hearing from its synthesizer, could this be Omega? I answer it's question with, "Is the mammal's name Rouge?"

"Record match confirmed, are you Rouge the Bat?"

"Yes, Omega, yes I am." I couldn't believe that this machine is really Omega. I thought it was Omega, but all of the upgrades and new paint make Omega not look like what I remember.

"Yes Rouge, this is Omega E-124!" Tails says with happiness as I am reunited with Omega once again, "Omega really needed the new parts and upgrades, he was in such disrepair and desperate of a huge overhaul. I gave him so many new features and weapons, I have such a huge list just to list them all! As you can tell Rouge, Omega now has touch sensors and drastically enhanced movement control. Omega also has a new synth modulator chip and automatic volume control, and he can even speak in different voices and languages, but I let him keep his default voice setting too because that one is familiar to you. He also has improved color detection and voice recognition. Omega can also pick up radio signals and has access to GPS and radar. He can even be a Wifi antenna for wireless internet. And the weapons upgrades for Omega were the most fun to do to. But I'm running... out ... of air..."

"Breathe Tails! Breathe!" Amy grabs Tails by the shoulders so he doesn't fall over from lack of air due to his lengthy nerdgasm.

"You don't have to tell me everything Tails, I'm happy enough that you gave me a restored Omega. This is an awesome gift, thank you." I continue to stroke Omega's new arm because I'm happy he's here with us again.

Did you open your other present, Rouge?" Amy asks me while she is assisting a very winded Tails, "I know you will like it."

Just realizing I have not opened that box I was given earlier, I open it and what is inside is something I would've never expected them to get me. It is an eye catching huge green emerald the size of a ping-pong ball joined to a professionally polished platinum ring. I guess they do remember my never-ending desire of jewelry.

Amy looks over and notices I'm closely examining my gift, "Do you like it Rouge? Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's well away from like, Amy," I answer in awe of this fabulous piece of jewelry, "I love it Amy, this is a great gift, just like Omega. Thank you for doing this you two."

"We saw it in the store and it reminded us of you," Amy says while blushing from my approval of the present, "and we remembered how close you are to having the babies. So we had to get it for you, we hope you'll be a great mother."

"Well, you two sure went well over the top for getting me all of these things for me. And I'm sure I'll be one too."

"Awww... Rouge... you're tearing up." Amy notices that my eyes are watering from their overwhelming acts of kindness, "You look so cute that way."

"You know Rouge, I never seen you do that before. Are you sad?" Tails notices that I'm overcome with emotion from their love.

"No, Tails. I'm not sad... it means a lot to me that you two would do all of this for me. It really does."

"We love you Rouge, and you were here all alone for such a long time." Amy adds on, "We hated seeing you here like this."

"Thanks doing all of this for me. You two can hug mama Rouge now if you like."

"Well you heard 'mama' Tails, she wants us to hug her." Amy says happily to Tails, "Let's give her one."

"Okay Amy." Tails walks up to Amy and both walk up to me together and give me a big warm hug. Kalgan looks over at us with a big smile as he stays by Knuckles side to make sure he's okay. I know it has been way too long since I've been loved like this, only if Shadow was here, this little pregnant bat's heart would be absolutely complete.


	13. Blue of Midnight

Technology, civilization, control; three building blocks that create the nations and kingdoms, but any one can easily destroy if this triangular balance is ever upset. But a fourth and fifth one is also able to destroy nations as well as build new ones in their place, conquest and war. Romans, Greeks, King Arthur, Genghis Khan, the United Kingdom, Nazi Germany, United States of America, and the Soviet Union. More than four millennia ago, the Echidna species were split into two great warring ethnic groups, one had superior technology, the other had great order over its people. The two tribes fought each other for a long period over a great power struggle, but somewhere outside of both civilizations, lied a little house near a cliff with a little blue echidna girl who lived with her farming parents. Her parents are about to leave to barter off their goods in the higher populated civilizations for supplies to support their small home.

"Rain-Guia, we're about to leave to gather supplies, so we need you to take care of things here. Can we trust you to do that?" The purple echidna mother requested an order to her daughter.

"You know I will, mama. I know what to do." The little blue echidna girl answered her mother's request.

"Come on, let's go girl, we need to leave now so we can come back in time." The charcoal echidna father yelled out to his wife from outside.

"Now Rain-Guia, we will be gone for a long time. We need you to stay strong for us, can you do that for mommy?" The little girl's mother said as she patted her little girl's head.

"Yes I can mom!" The little girl answered with excitement.

"Good Rain-Guia, stay strong, we are depending on you." Her mother said before leaving with her husband, now only she was left at the little house, all by herself.

As months upon months pass, she kept her word for her parents. Whenever the house got damaged, she repaired it, when she got hungry, she had to hunt to feed herself, but the loneliness started to work on her very young mind. One winter, the house got cold. She struggled to ignite the fire with stones, the way she had always done it, her anger and animosity of being alone showed its wear on the little echidna.

"Stupid fire, light!" She talked at the pile of wood with rage as she continued to fail at lighting the wood on fire. "Light! Light!"

After continuing to try a few times more, she jumped up in fury and roared at the wood, "LIGHT!"

She screamed in intense anger and threw one stone out the window and the other at the wood pile. Just as the stone touched the wood pile, the wood engulfed itself in flames as if it almost willed itself to catch fire. She stood in front of the fire in surprise as if the wood self ignited. But she became happier that the fire was lit.

A little while after that incident with the fire, she woke up to the earth rumbling. As she ran outside to figure out what was going on, her eyes caught a piece of landmass separating itself from the ground and rising to the sky. She became mesmerized of the unbelievable sight of an island going up in the clouds. She stared into the sky until the sun disappeared, then headed inside next to the fire. Then the little girl went to sleep on her parent's bed, tired from today's excitement.

Years have passed since her parents left, the little girl turned into a self-reliant teenager. Her little dress she used to wear as a child now hangs on the wall, she now wears a dress made from the blanket she used as a child. Over the years she also recognized only a small part of the power she possesses within herself, but she still has no understanding of its origins. Her longing of her parents also has grown over the years of being by herself. One day she had a sudden flash of rage combined with intense fury, she hit the table furiously with her fists. After pummeling the table, she ran outside and began ripping out the grass in front of her home, clouds formed over her house and the cliff. As her distress became more clear, a storm brewed upon her. She screamed out at the sky with despair of being alone, "Mother! Father! If you can give me a sign of where you are, please do! I miss you!" Right after yelling out at the storm, a monstrous blue bolt of lightning hit the infuriated girl with tremendous power. The girl instantaneously went unconscious from such an intense blow from nature.

When the girl regained consciousness, her clothes were reduced to ash from the lightning, but her body was completely spared. But her senses told her that she was no longer alone even though there was nobody around. A voice came upon her from nowhere and started speaking to her,

"The power inside yourself... it's absolutely beautiful, your power is unrivaled on this planet. Ever since your birth, an ability laid hidden inside yourself, a ability that no other on your world possesses. Since you were born far from the clutches of civilization, you remained uncorrupted of their ways, their pain, and their suffering. Your skin, it helped me keep track of you, you're the blue of midnight; like the night I will come down from the heavens and meet you at a physical level."

The girl was absolutely in shock of this unseen being knowing her life and secrets, she cried out, "You... you voice! How do you know me, know what I look like, and my power? What happened to my parents? Did you have anything to do with them?"

The disembodied voice continued on, "No little blue of midnight, your parents are alive and well, no harm came to them. The island in the sky, they are now stuck up there... in the sky."

The little echidna became enraged because of this, "Did you put them up there? Did you do that?"

"No, blue of midnight, the people of that land... they are the ones who caused it, two tribes clashed, that is the result. Your parents are safe and well, but they will be up there as long as that island remains in the sky. I'm sorry, blue of midnight, there is nothing I can do about them. But they will be safe for an immeasurable amount of time."

"...voice ...my parents ...I don't what to do ...voice ...if you can hear me ...please ...I don't want it to be this way ...if you have any kind of power to change this ...please ...I want to know"

"Unfortunately, blue of midnight, your separation is out of my power. Your sadness, please don't be... your parents taught you very well. You will have to go on and be the one you were chosen to be."

"...I still don't understand ...why did it have to end like this?"

"This maybe the end of the bond with your parents, blue of midnight, but you will have to figure out yourself... I can aid you, but that is the best I can do."

"I will wait... voice... if you will help me, I will wait for you."

"We will meet, midnight."


	14. Raining Stars

A few months pass by since the little blue echidna girl was contacted by the voice from the unknown. Her mind overflowed with ideas of beings coming down from the heavens just to visit her. She followed the daily motions an routines she always has done for years as she persistently waits for the visitors to arrive. One night, while she was sleeping, a massive starship descended from the stars and moored right above her tiny, primitive home. The inexplicable voice from above entered the little echidna's mind,

"Awaken, Blue of Midnight, it is time."

The girl awakes to an eerie silence, she detects something abnormal outside the home. She walked out and there it was, a ship from the stars above remains afloat above her and her house. The ship was very sophisticated and other-worldly in design, she has never seen such a thing even close to it in her life before. A high-tech race from another plane of existence is now here above her property. The little echidna was absolutely awestruck of the ship, and she was about to board it.

"Stay still, we will pick you up now." The voice told her.

Stardust began to swirl around the girl as she was being lifted into the ship, she watches her home on the cliff become smaller as she went higher into the air and closer to the ship. A door on the titanic starship opened and sucked her inside.

She entered into a narrow hallway inside the ship, she looks around as the walls, ceiling, and floor were meticulously decorated with intricate designs and imagery. She began walking around and exploring this new place, she finds a window to he exterior of the ship, she seen Earth from a view that wouldn't be yet achievable on Earth for multiple millennia to come. The Earth was a beautiful blue and green marble suspended in space, and she was living only on a small part of it until just now. She proceeded to travel through the incredulous space vessel and stumbled upon two unusually thin beings with equally thin tails and ear-like protrusions from their feline-like heads. The beings were not using their legs to move about the ship but instead levitated about, not exerting a single bit of physical force to be mobile. They look over at the echidna girl with absolute fascination as they never seen the likes of her before. The creatures inspect the new passenger, and with one creature's wave of an arm, her earth clothes disappeared, leaving the blue female without anything to cover her personal assets. One of the beings communicated to her, "Your species are still in the clothing stage of the evolutionary scale. We are absolutely honored to have you aboard, we will take you to the one who requires your presence." One of them then lift their arm over her head, causing her to levitate just like them and then escort her to where she needs to be.


	15. Armor Fist vs Knuckles

Intercepting phone call, please stand by...

Phone call intercepted.

Recording...

"Night Rain, this is Psi Scythe. Commence Operation: Shadow Trace!"

"I already know where he is."

"What? What do you mean you already know where he is?"

"I already have his location."

"Where is yours, Night Rain?"

"Right next to the target, Psi Scythe."

"Did you already exert your... 'influence' on him?"

"Yes. He was a little... too easy for the self proclaimed 'Ultimate Life-form', but I did what I had to do. How is 'Band Aid', Psi Scythe?"

"Playing his part perfectly, even for a top-ranking employee. I wonder how the CEO will respond to his 'change of colors.' 'Mom-bat' will be having two children, I did... some questioning."

"With the toy grenade? You love playing that gag, huh?"

"Mom-bat's face was just fucking priceless, I even have the whole event recorded on flash memory in 1080p!"

"I remember when you used real grenades before, now that was funny!"

"Operation: Angel Dust, those poor fuckers didn't stand a chance."

"We'll have to watch that on the next 'movie night', it's so worth watching."

"I see, what are we going to do about 'Red-tard'?"

"You really don't like him do you? You certainly have unrivaled animosity when it comes to that muscle-dummy, don't you? What is your... reason?"

"Personal matters?"

"Hmmmmm... well, the only thing 'Red-tard' is capable of is only hindering our 'access' to 'mom-bat', but if your 'personal matters' are that important to settle, I can only think of is... 'armor fist'..."

"You're suggesting I summon 'armor fist' to 'reason' with 'Red-tard'?"

"I'm not suggesting you anything, I'm just telling you a very viable option. If it's any one of us who suggests, it'd be you Night Rain. But I have to ask you, you're already using him as your own personal assistant aren't you?"

"What makes you think that Psi Scythe?"

"You have... notable affection with the opposite gender. I've seen you in action before, remember initiation? You literally used your male companion to carry you to victory and he even did all of the 'dirty work' for you. Must be a convenience to do that to any male you have ever contacted thus far. But why do you do that to males, Night Rain? Shouldn't you feel bad about now that every male you have been around for more than five minutes always did your every whim?"

"I'm disappointed with the males here, Psi Scythe. None of them are strong as they advertise themselves to be, even the 'Ultimate' was disappointing. I have high standards for a mate and I most definitely do not let just any organism soil my eggs."

"And Night Rain's quest for a perfect mate continues, will Night Rain ever find that King Arthur to put his sword in her stone?"

"Very funny Psi Scythe, I rather keep the 'Armadillo under my pillow' warm, thank you."

"Well, have fun with your boy toy and your Steely Dan, Night Rain."

"No problem, Psi Scythe. Bye."

"Bye."

Phone call interception terminated... recording saved.

New phone call detected.

Intercepting phone call, please stand by...

Phone call intercepted.

Recording...

"Armor Fist, this is Night Rain. Can you hear me?"

"Yah."

"We need to to take care of "Red-tard"."

"This "Red-tard" is no threat to S.P.E.C.T.E.R."

(A/N: **S.P.E.C.T.E.R.** = **S**pecial **P**rivate **E**ngagement **C**ore, **T**actical **E**nterprise **R**elations)

"Armor Fist, "Red-tard" prevents our progress, we need you too... divert him."

"I rank higher, I require confirmation from my superior to fulfill your request."

"Okay."

"This is the representative of Armor Fist's superior, we have intercepted your call due to your rank, Night Rain. We will assess the conditions of your request, and analyze its relations with "Operation: Shadow Trace". We will only tell Armor Fist if your request has received clearance. Good Bye Night Rain."

"Okay then, good bye."

Phone call interception terminated... recording saved.

* * *

December 20, 4404

After receiving confirmation, I head out to the coördinates to deal with red forest creäture who has notable strength. A tiny store in a small town is my destination. I arrive in a black transport helicopter due to my weight of 7.5 metric tons and 4 meter height, making fast transport options quite limited. With the store in sight, I lower down to the ground from helicopter by on-board cargo crane. Once on land, the helicopter files away to lap the city while I do business. My armor makes up for my loss of legs and left arm, it receives power by built-in nuclear power plant. My armor's limbs, unlike conventional powered armors who rely on electric motors for limb operation, mine function by steam operated cylinders that receive steam from the power plant's cooling system. The only electronic functionality my armor has is the on-board computer that controls the reactor and the valves that work the limbs. My armor's bulk was drastically reduced because of harnessing the power of steam instead of using electric motors, however, my sizing is still unavoidably unwieldy due to armor layers, steam pipes, and electronic positioning sensors. I make my way to the location on foot, with my weapon attached to my back by sling. My computer explains my armor status, location, objectives, and other data though illuminated glasses, making me a much more efficient combatant.

As I arrive to the location, I have a visual on the store. There is numerous fellow operatives here, already attacking red forest creature with their sheer numbers. One of the agents notices me and runs out of my way as I proceed to plow through them to get to red forest creature so I can deal with him. After intense shoving action, I run to red forest creature and give him the steel left hook. My metallic punch tosses red forest creature into my fellow agents who rebound him back to me. The red creature looks at me, astonished of my sheer size, I overlook him like a mountain. He screams as he drives his fist in into my steel legs thinking it was meat because of the pants that cover them. Red forest creature becomes stunned as he realizes I am mostly metal and I seize the open moment by proceeding to attack him with a mix of alloy and flesh punches, he rebels with an incredible punch to my armored half of my chest, leaving only a sizable dent that partially crushes my output cooling pipe from the power plant's radiator. This damage impresses me as I kick red forest creature with metal feet, my crushed pipe hinders how hard I kick him. My computer's alarm sounds and displays where my cooling system is damaged. While red forest creature is getting up to return with an attack, I kneel down and give a swift uppercut to his jaw with my flesh arm. He soon lost consciousness as my computer displays. Fellow agents look at me with idolizing eyes, I really don't get what's so impressive about me doing my task.

The store employee walks out with a firearm and opens fire at me after seeing what I did to red forest creature. I return fire with my machine gun which kills him with a calculated 1500 rounds per minute, he was easily defeated by superior firepower and armor. My fellow agents left the scene on foot as I look around the sky for the helicopter. I receive a call from my superior, apparently, agent 'Band Aid' is no longer considered mentally fit for service for S.P.E.C.T.E.R. and must be eliminated, whoever else is present with the agent are optional in elimination... but recommended. My computer collects the location via GPS and highlights the location on the electronic map on my display, I proceed to go to the location despite my damaged cooling pipe, my power plant's heat intensifies slightly from the pipe's restriction.


	16. Giyo's Touch

"This room is yours, young one," one of the beings communicated, "you must not know our way of life yet, but the one who wants you will enlighten you on the subject. We have bestowed to you an opportunity no other member of your species will have, they are not yet ready unlike you are." The two sentient creatures left the little girl to herself in her assigned room, the door shut flush and seamless with the rest of the wall and its sculpted design. The room illuminated with a fluorescent blue glow that chilled the girl's mind into a hypnotizing calm sensation, the room had only a transparent gelatin blob, which sat about only two feet away from a perfectly square cube that had a pattern matching the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room, and in one corner was a clear orb formed out of some type of organic plasma that had a mirror-like shine. The little blue echidna was overwhelmingly mesmerized by everything that's happened to her in only a few years, it seemed like only yesterday that her parents left and never returned. She sat down and started to sing a song to help calm herself in such a foreign environment.

"Sing a melody."

"Simple as can be."

"Give it some words and."

"Sweet..."

Without warning, the same voice that had entered her mind once before returns to speak to her once again.

"I noticed you're singing, welcome to the ship. What do you think of it? It is very different from what home looks like. I have waited so long to meet you, blue of midnight. But I will meet you at a tangible medium, so please show patience for me."

The little blue girl got excited by hearing the voice saying that it will finally meet her in person, it's identity will finally be revealed to her. For years, she waited for this moment to meet the owner of the voice from the unknown. The memories of her being struck by a massive bolt from nature, the self-igniting fire, and her being by herself for so long rushed throughout her mind. As she was reminiscing about her past, the perfectly-fitting door opened, revealing an usually slim, white figure similar to the ones she seen earlier. But this one's 'ears' curled slightly and its eyes were gold, it held its hands together with absolute symmetry. It started to communicate with the girl once again.

"Ah, we finally meet blue of midnight. I have not told you my name before. My name is Giyo, I have been communicating with you with the use of my thoughts. You were born with an inner power, I will provide assistance as you learn to handle your power, but most you will learn on your own."

"Giyo." The little girl said as she looked up at Giyo astonished, "I have waited for so long for this."

She ran up to the being and hugged his legs, Giyo knew she was showing affection to him by doing this, but he has never had a hug before.

"Blue of midnight," Giyo says, "I see you like our little meeting, you make me happy by being happy yourself. But I mist tell you something."

The little girl looked up at Giyo with big eyes, "What is it Giyo?"

Giyo rested his right hand on her forehead and tells her, "Now, you will go unconscious after what I am about to do, you will need plenty of rest for what will happen later."

"What."

With an impulse from Giyo's mind to her young mind, the little echidna fell unconscious just as he described. He lifted her up with his mind and transported her to the clear orb, the orb sucked her inside and the little girl rested perfectly in the center. The liquid inside matched her body so the transition from the outside wouldn't be startling cold but a nice soothing warmth that relaxes the occupant. Giyo looks at the blue female echidna and tells her, "Good night." before leaving the room to herself. Little Rain-Guia floated inside the orb and into dreamland.


	17. Of Rails & Cars

I have to say, shit's changed since I was in the freezer. The car's are decent but look too plastic for me, in fact, everything looks too plastic for me. But at least the older cars are still around, that's how I ended up in this nice and clean Olds 442! And of course this car is hot, I mean, look at the police chasing me! At least they're chasing me in something classy, not in one of those cheap cracker boxes that those kids play with! That's another thing that's fucked up around here, the fucking youth's fucked up, what's so cool about wearing a beanie or a fucking baseball cap like you know something, drive a not even eight-cylinder econocrap, listening to music that sounds like an anthem for gay people, I mean, what's so attractive about a fucking metro sexual!? I know it's a bad time talking about this when your being chased by the police but come on, think about that. When is society going to fucking draw the line on how gay you can look before you're considered gay? I'd better shake the cops before shit gets really ugly. Land of the free, huh? More like the land of the spineless fucking fags.

Awesome, a traffic jam ahead. Maybe I'll lose em in it, I'll take the turnout route. So anyhow, I know things have changed, but I don't think they have changed for the better. But you know, if it can be done, it can be undone too! I wonder how Yuri is doing, I bet she isn't getting chased by police.

* * *

"Where we going?"

"Aw, Brutus, you already forget?"

"Um, maybe... aren't we supposed to follow train tracks?"

"Yes. See, you do know where we are going!"

"But where are these going to take us?"

"To an awesome place, Brew, where we don't have to work. Where people will work for us and we get anything we want! You can do anything you want, anything!"

"It sounds like a good place, Yuri. Are you making this up?"

"Would I be telling you anything if it wasn't true."

So here I am, with a big dumb dog who will believe anything I say like gospel. Walking down some train tracks to the town where my hermana is. I just can't wait to say hi, she will be so happy to see me on that doorstep. I don't know what she will think of Brute though. In fact, I'm surprised we haven't been caught by now, Brutus sticks out like a big flag with the words "I'm over here!" on it. A signal beside the tracks up ahead shines green, I hear a train's horn out in the distance, and Brutus is on the rails. Brutus is on the rails!?

"Brutus! Get over here!"

"But the view is better up here, I can see a town!"

"That's good, but I need you down here!"

"Okay."

"Good boy!"

After a few minutes that train I heard earlier drives by and it's nothing but boxcars and flat cars, perfect, me and Brew here can catch a free ride. Now only to hop into a boxcar. I jump into one boxcar with my inherent cat-capabilities, but Brutus is going to be entertaining.

"Brutus! Get in here!"

"I'll try!"

With Brutus' massive grip on the opening of the boxcar, the train car tilts heavily to one due to his sheer weight not being center with the train. He slowly pulls himself inside and sits in one end of the car. I climb up his meaty arm, sit on his ginormous shoulder and lean on his head. For being made of such tough meat, Brutus' shoulder is pretty comfortable as a bed. I almost fall asleep, but I hear a big helicopter outside, the sound becomes louder. I jump from Brutus' shoulder and grab the top of the opening. I swing up on the top of the boxcar and to my surprise; there is a big, black, two-rotor cargo helicopter hovering above a couple of flat cars ahead of us. The huge helicopter opens a huge door on the back under the rear rotor and numerous armed men in black with stylish masks walk out of their helicopter and organize themselves on the flatcars. Why are these guys even on here? Are they going to steal the train?

I slip back into the boxcar and Brutus is still sitting there calmly.

"Brutus, we're in trouble, big trouble."

"Did we do something wrong, did we break rule?"

"I don't know, but I got a bad *cough* *cough* *belch* ...hairball. But we need to be quiet or they'll find us."

"Oka..."

"ssssshhhhhhhhhhhh... be quiet, be very, very quiet..."


	18. Reggie The Temptress

"I see you finally robbed that bank Shadow, good job."

There's that bitch waiting for me, she just sits there with a smirk like the cat that ate the canary.

"Yeah, where do you want me to put the money?"

"Set it beside me, I'll take care of it. Go lay down, grab a beer, or get some aspirin, I bet I gave you a good migraine."

"I'll take a beer then lay down."

"Well, you don't have to tell me. Just go get yourself what you want and rest."

That echidna's power, she must not really be from around here. But this isn't what bothers me most, I just hope Rouge is okay. I bet she's at her place just sitting there, waiting for me to come back. I really fucked up for doing that to her.

"Do you know how cute you look when you think to yourself, aw... you're such a cute little servant. Maybe this will give you time to reflect upon your mistakes."

"Don't remind me of them, bitch, I'm shitty enough as it is."

"Well, rest up. You'll be busy tomorrow."

"What do you have planned for me tomorrow."

"You won't expect it, and it's a good reminder of something important to you."

"You love torturing me don't you?"

"I can't kick your ass any harder than you have already, I'll go take another shower. You know, I think some music might help you. I'll turn on the radio for you."

"Okay."

Another shower? What is this woman's deal? She must be a shower fanatic. I hope the radio has something good playing.

"Good evening this is 86.4, the HIPP where we play all the yesteryear's hits and classics. Tomorrow, Huey Lewis will be playing at the Starstorm in New Vegas and for such an occasion we will be playing his song, Is It Me from his album Picture This. Again this is Is It Me by Huey Lewis and The News on 86.4, the HIPP."

"Did I just say something wrong?"

"Did I just stay out to long?"

"Could it be you've seen something that you don't want to see in me?"

"Never had the perfect plan,"

"And I'm no superman."

"But I can't believe it's nobody else that I see."

"What about all of the things that you said to me?"

"Is everybody crazy or is it me?"

"I remember all the nights,"

"I remember all the fights."

"I still hear the crazy things that you say to me."

"Everybody says you're gone,"

"It's all gone on too long,"

"People say you never really cared anyway."

"What about all of the things that you meant to me?"

"Is everybody crazy or is it me?"

"Is it me?"

"I don't know."

"If it's me,"

"Tell me and I'll go."

"Tell me what you see."

"Is it me?"

I remember hearing this song before, but I cannot recall where. This song makes me sad because... why did I do it? I shouldn't have ran away, if only I was braver.

"Is it me?"

"I don't know. Oooooooooh"

"If it's me?"

"Tell me and I'll go."

"Tell me what you see."

"Is it me?"

And I'm paying for it immensely by being tortured by a succubus.

"Now that's not a proper way to think of me. Besides, you're blaming me for your problems when you had it coming anyway. Well Moody, we need to head out soon. We need to find a new place to stay."

"Bitch."

"Man-whore."

"Frigid."

"You know what you are Shadow? You're a dildo, but with a whole hedgehog attached to it. I bet Gerald & Maria is very pleased with you. Make everyone happy... you can't even make yourself happy."

"How about you? You rape people with your mind, you get off on emotional destruction of other people, and no male in the known universe can please you. You wouldn't even practice sex period though you flaunt your v like the most prime on this planet."

"You're a psychologist now? I'm the one with psychic powers."

"And you're a proper definition of a woman who will never dish out your goodies."

"You want to taste my cookies? Come in the bathroom, I'll give you a taste. You won't be disappointed."

What did I get myself into? Should I break abstinence to prove a point?


	19. Unintentional Violence

Such a bitch to patch up my wing, but I'm glad to hide in this hotel room now to do so. I don't think I'll be flying with such an injury anytime soon. I hope Gene fulfilled my last request by handing those important items to Kris, she really needs to receive them. It has been such a long time since I visited her in person. Okay, that should hold up my wing until it heals. Now to do something, I think I'll go for a walk outside.

I walk outside of the hotel, closing the door behind me and locking it. Making my way to the city street that has a good amount of traffic which is typical of bigger cities, I walk by a man in a black jacket with a white shirt underneath and sports olive drab pants. The man was on a mission, he almost runs into me as he makes his way to a car that's parked on the side of the road. He kicks and shatters the driver's side window without even looking for police. He unlocks the door and hops into the driver seat, where he proceeds to hot-wire the car. While the guy proceeds to steal the car, a gray bat of lean build jumps over the brick wall the car was next to. The bat is muscling an apparently heavy duffel bag with one hand while sprinting over to the car being hijacked, the guy finishes hot-wiring and unlocks the passenger door right before the bat grabs the door handle. Both the bat and the guy make a getaway in the stolen car with the duffel bag in the back seat. What a different time, people will always be potentially rotten, but the world is still beautiful in this time frame.

I continue my way down the sidewalk until I come upon a department store, I walk inside to find some supplies with little money I found in the cop car. It's an experience being back in this time period again, I thought a chance like this would never happen. I got lost in the store from nostalgia overload until I run into a rabbit in one of the aisles who looks very familiar, it takes me a minute to remember that this rabbit is Cream! Shit, shit, shit! What does a guy from the future do when he meets a person he knows from his past? Oh yes, RUN! "Shadow! Is that you!? I'm Cream, remember me? You left Rouge's side, Shadow, why did you do that?" Fuck, she thinks I'm Shadow! This is great, she will probably call Amy, who will call Tails, who will call Rouge... Goddamn it! Shadow isn't even reunited with Rouge yet, none of that hasn't happened yet! Shadow is still being punished by Rain-Guia's mother. Why didn't I know what is happening in this time frame earlier, god fucking damn it!? "Shadow! Why are you running?" Cream's running after me! I gotta lose her fast! Good, the clothes section!

I dip behind a rack of some blue jeans to hide from Cream, I see her shoes from beneath the pants' bottoms. I hear a phone beeping, then I hear her say, "Hey Amy, I seen Shadow! ...yeah! He's here at the Department Store! He's acting very strange, he ran away from me and he was wearing Army clothes! His eyes were also green and he had wings... wait... he looks similar to Shadow, but with bat wings and green eyes..." I lift the whole clothes rack above my head and yell, "Shut up and get out of my life Cream!" before burying her under a mountain of jeans. Her phone was by my foot, I pick it up and tell Amy, "Sorry Amy, gotta go!" before ending the ca... damn it, I just spoke to Amy! Shit! I need to get out of this store! I sprint to the front doors of the place and and this old bat in an army uniform stops me and asks me, "Are you a doppelganger or something?" I punch him right in the face as hard as I could, knocking him out cold. Shit! I just fucking K.O.d Rouge's grandpa, fucking great! I hurriedly grab some money out of his wallet before running out the door. I hear an old lady yelling behind me somewhere, "You fucking do this to my man!?" She starts shooting a me with a handgun, the bullets flying past me as I run through a busy intersection. A cop car strikes me at about 20 MPH and I slide up on the smooth hood. The cops inside the car panic and slam on the brakes, I roll off the front of the car and onto the pavement. I quickly get up and the cops get out of their car, I swiftly shoot the policemen in the shoulders with my handgun and hop in their car and leave the scene with my foot to the floor.

This is really fucking bad, I couldn't fuck up much more than what I just did. I need to rush back to my hotel room, get my stuff, and leave town immediately! I'm sorry everybody, but I have a mission to fulfill!


	20. Usen's Just A Fabrication

Why am I surrounded by self-serving yuppies, rich idiots, and people who cannot grasp how much powerful they actually are? The mind is and forever remain an enigma. Psychology is the most powerful weapon any one person can use, that is why I am the most dangerous person alive. But one thing absolutely leaves me mystified, if I am as genuinely dangerous as I really am, why haven't I been noticed yet? Maybe one day, just one day... that time will finally come. But knowing this, just leaving it just as a potential possibility scares me where I cannot hardly sleep. Just the idea that the public will one day _actually_ use their minds also leave me restless.

My routine each time I wake up, that is if I didn't stay up all night; is I take care of my hygiene, dress in my all black uniform as I always do, a typical self-beautification ritual every sane person completes when they wake up. With hygiene and self-grooming out-of-the-way, I pull my Colt Semiautomatic and my Mk. II "Pineapple" grenade out of the drawer in my small table next to my bed, I keep them there each night due to all the things I have done in my life adding up on me and face the repercussions of my very actions. With an explosive and a handgun in their respective holsters, I head down the stairway in my two-story house and head into the kitchen for to feed myself for the day ahead.

As I sit down at the table, waiting for the sausage to get done cooking by myself; I look at my firearm to see if it's been tampered with. Nothing in my house is ever tampered with without me knowing it, there is a security system, a camera system, and a fire alarm system in my house. After returning my pistol into its holster again, I pull out my ID card, look it over and tell myself what is on it:

Usen Amiatttt

Criminal Psychologist & Mental Health Evaluator

Age: 38

D.O.B.: 6-6-4366

G.U.N. Association: 20 Years

Now with ID card examination out-of-the-way, the sausage is done cooking. I put the sausage on a plate and set it on the table to cool slightly while I get milk and bran flakes out of my refrigerator. I return to the table with a carton of milk, a box of bran flakes, a bowl and spoon that I got on the trip back from the refrigerator. I slowly pour a fixed amount of milk from my carton into the bowl full of bran flakes. I hear something shift about while I do this each time, but I never could figure out what it is. I cannot resist the urge to believe something is there, stalking me, mocking me, _fucking_ with me. After I add milk to my cereal, I look about my house, but nothing outstanding is ever found each time I search. I walk out the front door and look about, but nothing is out there but grass each and every time I check out front. The sound of children giggling faintly enters my mind each morning at about this time, anywhere & everywhere I look, there is no children visible.

I return to my kitchen table in my house, my Colt in my right hand, my spoonful of bran flakes in my left. I then remind myself that I have went to the doctor due to a stress-induced stroke, and attempt to reassure myself that it's my imagination acting on suppressed memories of a time long passed in my life. Once I complete my breakfast and reassurance cycle, I take a slow walk to my garage, looking around my surroundings as I make my way there. With a firm twist of the door knob, I enter the garage and walk around my car and give a thorough examination of the car and the building for signs of tampering. There is always no signs of unwanted activity each time I do this, but I can never be to sure that it will happen, I know one day it will. I then look at an old photograph of my friend that sits next to my car on a desk, the picture features me and my bat friend together back when I was a Private in the Armed Forces. Oh go old Sky Eyes, me and him have worked together for S.P.E.C.T.E.R. for quite some time. I usually would enter my car after reminiscing that long past memory, but today was altered from the never-interrupted routine I complete each morning. Today I receive an early phone call from Sky Eyes, he almost never calls me since my death was faked. I answer the phone with great emergency as to not keep him waiting.

"Psy-Scythe."

"Greetings Sky Eyes, much time has passed since last contact. But no small-talk, what is the important news?"

"I was attacked, attacked by..."

"The target?"

"No. But this creature looked alike to the target, but had... physical mutations?"

"What do you mean?"

"While it appears to have notable similarities to the target, it has some outstanding unique traits however."

"Describe."

"The only primary differences is that it has wings and green eyes."

"Wings and green eyes? What do you suggest? Will this creature potentially jeopardize Operation: Shadow Trace?"

"Initial thoughts strongly suggest, but if it will or not is out of the question. If you see this mutant, shoot on sight."

"Shoot it, do you suggest a fatal shot?"

"If possible, incapacitate it, do not kill it."

"I understand. Is New Vegas still on?"

"Uninterrupted and as pre-planned."

"I have one more piece of information I require from you Sky Eyes."

"And that is?"

"What kind of wings does this mutant you describe feature?"

"The wings appear similar to a bat's, do not forget it."

"Will not, goodbye."

"New Vegas?"

"New Vegas."

I would be in my car and on the road already but due to this surprise phone call, I'm somewhat behind, and I get... "unsettled" when any delay occurs in my pre-planned-to-the-_fucking_-second day. If I don't pop in my "anti-unsettling medication" within a proper time frame, I become "oh-so-unsettled" and "very upset". I sit on a stool next to my desk, staring at the picture while I clench my left fist so tightly from stressing out about my day not following the normal procedure that my own fingernails cut my hand and causing bleeding from my left palm. I'm searching sporadically in my right pocket trying to find my medication to chill me out. Finally, after a very painful 5 1/2 seconds, I find the capsule I need, throw it in my mouth as fast as I can, and swallow it. I sit there in front of my desk, simmering down as the medicine takes effect and calmness returns to my mind once again. I open up the first aid on the wall above my desk nice and gently, get some hydrogen peroxide, compression wrap, and sterile cotton puffs, then I set my injured hand on the table and proceed to clean and bandage it.

After completing the operation on my hand, I slowly stand up, return everything back into the first aid kit, lift my stool slightly so it does not make any upsetting noises and place it back underneath the desk, then I walk nice and easy to my car. I take my electronic clicker to my car and press the unlock button, the car's electronic locks inside the doors unlock, and I open the driver's door which I keep oiled where it does not make any noise when it opens and closes, and then I sit in the very comforting driver's seat. I lean back a little so I can see the top of the very engine I built, I built this whole car and another car from a bunch of wrecked highway patrol cars, the other car is in Sky Eyes' possession. S.P.E.C.T.E.R. was very impressed with the car's design that similar cars been produced and are used by other S.P.E.C.T.E.R. agents. However, unlike this one and Sky Eyes' car I built from wrecked cars and made both into two-seater, mid-engine cars, the ones the rest of the agents receive are regular front-engine, four-door, four passenger cars built from a private & classified manufacturer. The two cars I built and the rest are very identical in outer appearance, it's not until you open the hood and all four doors that you will see a drastic difference in engineering and build.

While I lean back and continue my drug-induced calmness, I look over to the passenger seat and I see a stuffed teddy bear that belonged to one of my children sitting there. She gave it to me as a good luck charm when I left my whole family a long time ago. My identity, Usen Amiatttt, is nothing but an entire fabrication that my falsified death created. So Usen is what many know me by, but the only record of my true self that I have is an ID card I keep as a keepsake and a reminder of who I really am, which I store inside that teddy bear for you know, good luck. I pick up the good luck teddy and stuff it underneath the passenger seat for safe keeping. I lift my seat back upright, wedge the key in the ignition, and start the mechanical orchestra of horsepower once again. I use the same clicker that I unlocked the car with to open the garage door and idle out to the driveway. I stop the car, shut the garage door behind me, lock my whole property, and arm the security system, all entirely done with my handy little clicker. Now that's all taken care of, I idle out to the road from my long driveway, make a crawling turn to the direction I need to go, and mash that throttle to the floor. And so begins yet another day of the fabricated life of the complete fraud that we know only as, Usen Amiatttt.


	21. A Big, Seperated Family

At The Starstorm in New Vegas

"Is this part of the place shut out from the rest of the casino Rico?" Says a short and small white female bat who's in her 40s, her left hand is clad of jewelry decked with all sorts of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. She wears a form-fitting, dark red dress and the lipstick she uses on her lips greatly compliments the dress. She is sitting at the empty bar in the events wing of the huge casino, planning a big party she likes to throw each month. She takes a small puff from a silver e-cigarette as she supervises the place being prepared for one epic party.

"Si, Miss Lady," Rico the Crow cackles to his boss, "There's no chance of anybody coming in her except if you want them to come in."

"Good," the bat answer while she crosses her legs and takes another puff, "and Rico, do you remember my name?"

"Yes, it's um... Rina, right?"

"That's right Rico. And I'm a Missus, I'm married. Do you remember the party I threw on wedding day? You should, you watched over everything."

"I do, Mrs. Rina, lo siento." Rico stands there pondering his commonly made error, he always refers to Rina as 'Miss Lady' for reasons unexplained.

"It's cool, go supervise the entrance some more. I think I feel a draft intruding."

"Si." Rico unconditionally answers his boss as he goes back to the entrance he was watching over earlier. From behind the stage on the opposite side of the big concert room from the bar enters a gray bat in his mid to late 20s, he's sporting a white T-shirt and regular blue jeans, carrying a heavy duffel bag with one hand and a shotgun with the other. A similarly aged white man in a black jacket and dark green pants follows behind the bat with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder. Both are heading towards Rina who is still sitting at the bar, Rina stands up and greets the grey bat to the casino.

"Gris!" Rina screams with happiness as she sees her boy returning safely with what she wanted him to get.

"Hey Mama." Gris says as he gives his mom a hug and shows her the duffel bag he retrieved for her.

"It's so nice to see you return, and I see you brought me a gift." Rina eyes the bag in her son's hand, Gris hands over the bag to his mother.

"I got what you wanted, it's for you Mama, happy early birthday. A shitload of greenbacks, untraceable and all for you" Gris' cheeks turn rosy with his love for his mom as Rina likes her present. "So where's pop?"

"Oh Zippy's down at the executive's corner in the casino wing, he is taking on our main competitor, owner of the... Ionosphere Las Vegas." Rina says as she is annoyed that her husband would prefer to challenge his adversaries than be intimate with her for her upcoming birthday. "Wish he would play with me."

"Don't sweat it Mama, he knows he'll lose. You always kick his ass at blackjack." Gris says as he tries to cheer up his disappointed mom, "He'll play with you when he's available, he's just wanting to make sure we'll stay in business."

"I know, I may beat him on the table," Rina says as she shifts her legs while she grins ear-to-ear, "but he always wins under the sheets. He's just too damn good."

"Okay mom..." Gris becomes slightly embarrassed as his mom just said that in front of his human associate, "well, I'll see what pop's up to."

"Okay son, love you!" Rina waves her son goodbye and takes another puff from her e-cigarette.

"Okay mom." Gris leaves the events wing as he attempts to keep a straight face as his own mother just polluted his mind with the image of his own parent's sex life, Gris did not want to know about that at all. Gris' partner in crime follow behind and grins perversely and chuckles to himself as Gris' mom just said that out loud.

"Claude, this is not the time to make a joke about my parents and their bedtime activities." Gris' looks at his comrade absolutely annoyed as he views Gris' parents mating ritual as funny.

Gris the Bat and Claude make their way through the very busy Starstorm casino to the exec's corner where Gris' dad is. The whole casino's packed with tourists from all over the world, betting their hard-earned money in hopes of winning it big. A guy in a blue Hawaiian shirt and camouflage shorts accidentally runs into Gris after leaving the slots, the guy apologizes as Gris and his human associate head toward the entrance to the exec's corner. Inside the exec's corner is very business like and there was Gris' dad, the owner of the Ionosphere Las Vegas, and a dealer playing a little corporate blackjack with bets in hundreds of millions and sometimes even assets find a place on the table. The Ionosphere Las Vegas' owner puts down and gloats, "Beat that, you scrawny little asshole!"

Gris' dad calmly puts down his hand and coolly says with a slight smirk, "Just did."

The owner of the Ionosphere looks at the cards in disbelief and groans, "Fuck. Damn you Tommy. You win again."

Gris' dad says, "So, I'll see you next month Mark?"

"You better believe it! And I'm going to kick your ass next time."

"Okay Mark, I'll see you then?"

"Damn right you will, later!"

The owner of Ionosphere Las Vegas walks out of the exec's corner, defeated. Gris then walks over to his dad, a smoke gray bat who sports a very expensive and professional looking business suit and Rolex around his right hand, and sits in a chair next to him. Claude, Gris' partner in crime stands, next to the doorway while Gris converses with his dad.

"Hey son, how's momma?" His dad says with a grin as he eyes his winnings.

"She's doing good, pop, but she wants you to spend some time with her."

"I see, I'll send her a message that we will go somewhere really nice later today. Son, now that you are a man now, I need to tell you something. Do you remember how I told you when your sister was born, me and mom got into some serious trouble so we needed her to be taken care of by your grandparents. On this piece of paper I'm about to hand over to you has the information you need to find her, even her address where her current residence is." Gris' father speaks to him as a piece of paper is slipped to Gris. "But I should tell you son, you cannot go there until after the party tomorrow, your grandpa and grandma will be here with some friends, it is of absolute importance that you meet all of them. Do you understand son?"

"I see dad. But why did it take this long for you to finally give me this opportunity?" Gris asks his father while he puts the piece of paper in his wallet.

"It took me a long time to get it son. It was very difficult to get this much info for you, I remember that being one of your birthday and Christmas wishes ever since I told you about her. And one more thing son, give her this DVD, it's a video that she must receive. Can you do that as a favor for me?"

"I will dad," Gris says as he takes the DVD which was placed in a hard sleeve and as Gris is about to leave, Gris tells his dad, "Dad?"

"Yes son?"

"Thank you."

Gris and Claude make their exit to the main casino and head to the hotel wing to enjoy the rest of the day in the relaxing spa and women of all species take them to get freshened up. But Gris couldn't shake the thought of what tomorrow will hold for him. Tomorrow is going be a big day for him and everybody and he needs to relaxed, chilled and primed for it.


	22. We Got Some Big News

"Come on in Shadow, I thought you wanted a free sample. It's hard to resist something that's so delicious and baked from my heart."

"If you're really genuine about it, I'll at least look."

"If I'm genuine about the pain I can dish out to you, I am also genuine about... sharing my goods too. You know Shadow, I'm as nice as I am horrible. Come on in, I know you want it. You cannot resist your male urges that's ingrained into your cells since your creation. However, your efforts to deny to satisfy your male appetite is commendable, but even the greatest has its limits. Don't worry, I wont bite or hurt you, unless you want me to. Is that a turn on of yours?"

"You're good at baiting me aren't you? I won't do it."

"Your body, your blood, it's getting warm isn't it? My presence must fluster you, am I exciting to you? Is it because I remind you of a certain someone?"

"No... I can't do it. I couldn't do that."

"Yes... you _can_ do that. C'mon, feed your hunger, Ultimate Man. Your body wants it! "

"No... Just No..."

"Okay, I think I'll come to you instead. You better surrender now!"

Oh this will be good.

"You know, I'm not Miss Right, but these are some delicious cookies. You want one?"

There's that bitch, as self-absorbed and status-obsessed as they come. Don't let her looks fool you or anyone, her hunger is one without an end. She will feed, and feed, and feed her appetite without any concern for the numbers she has consumed before. But the unusual part is not that she approaches me shamelessly nude, but she's approaching me with literal cookies on a plate that have M&M's on the cookies! She plays cute and erotically nibbles one of the cookies as she gets down on her knees next to my bed, I honestly think she is much scarier when she plays cutesie like this. Watch her carefully if you ever meet her in person, she is very unpredictable.

"Aw... you're so cute when you think I'm up to no good. But if there is something good here is these cookies."

Those cookies sure look good, but my instincts tell me to not eat them. But they appear to be store-bought, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with them right?

"Okay, I'll take one. I'm a little hungry anyway."

"Yay!"

I pick one up and toss it in my mouth, I sit there and chew it for awhile. And... she didn't lace it! I'm actually surprise she didn't drug them or something, now this is really making me uncomfortable now.

"These cookies are good, here I'll nab another one."

Apparently there's nothing with these cookies, I guess she might, just might have mercy after all.

"Oh, Shadow. I need to tell you something."

"Did you lace these?"

"No, no, and no. Shadow if those were lace, you would've known it! But this is urgent Shadow, I ap..."

_BOOM!_

The door just fucking exploded, did Reggie have something to do with this!?

"It's been 60 years since you put in the freezer you cocksucker! I remembered your scent from so long ago, I never forgot it. But now pay for the crimes that are yours to pay in blood, Shadow!"

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"I'm Master Sergeant Ben, don't you remember? Well it don't matter, I'm strapped for time and so are you!"

I don't remember a Ben, was he that angry German? Don't fucking matter because he's trying to kill me now. He's spraying ammunition through the front of the whole hotel room.

"Shadow, the bathroom!"

"Reggie, this is no time to get me to take a shower with you."

"No, there is a window in there that we can escape out of!"

I make my way to the bathroom under all of the gunfire, Reggie took a minute to catch up due to being undressed. How can she find the time to dress up in this shit? Oh, there she is, she's carrying her clothes.

"Well what are you waiting for Shadow, for Maria to come back from the dead? Open the window!"

Despite her using that very offensive line, I open the window and make my escape to behind the hotel, the bitch follows shortly behind carrying her clothes instead of wearing them. Of course, who could put on anything with all of this gunfire.

"Shadow, let me put on my clothes and then we need to escape to the street."

"You look funny nude in this situation Wedgie, you should evade gunfire without clothes more often."

"Does it turn you on, Mr. Ultimate?"

"Uh..."

"Exactly, now let's GTFO!"

With Wedgie now dressed up, we continue with the escape by jumping the back fence and entering an alleyway. We run down it and out into the street where our bikes are, I don't know how she got my chopper here but I'll be more than happy to hop on it!

"Think you can keep up with me on something like that, TurboMan?" She gloats as she starts up her GSXR 1100 and takes off. I waste no time myself to start up my bike and get going. I punch the throttle and I'm off trying to keep up with Reggie. Just as I catch up with Reggie, that crazy gunman is hot on my tail in a muscle car, just great. That trigger-happy nut job just will not quit!

His car catches up beside me and he gets me in his shotgun's cross-hairs, but Reggie shoots out his windshield with her Desert Eagle and throws off his aim. The blast from the shotgun goes off right behind my head, making my ears ring from the loud bang. I get out my .357 that was in my bike's holster and try to put this mad dog down. I get a shot on his left hand which he was using to drive the car with and he spins the car out and takes out an 18-wheeler from behind. I know he'll survive because the car hit the truck with the passenger side of his car. But I hope I'll never see that fucking dog again.

Feeling relieved that we lost him, Reggie and me keep going down the highway doing 100 MPH until we drive into a rest stop parking lot and stop and figure out where to go next. I know one thing, I gotta take a leak after being on the road like that.

"Wedgie, I'm going to take a piss."

"Well don't tell me your business, take care of it."

As I walk away to the restroom, I see Reggie start using her mobile phone. While I was draining myself, I hear a big truck pull up and park nearby. A minute later I hear Reggie start talking to somebody outside, she continues to talk to the person while I wash my hands. I exit the restroom and next to our bikes is a huge dark green tour bus and Reggie is talking to the people inside. I walk up to the bus and Reggie is talking to none other than Huey Lewis, apparently Reggie is trying to sweet-talk Huey into letting us ride with him. Huey doesn't seem to be buying it until he glances toward me and asks me. "Aren't you Shadow the Hedgehog, you saved us a while back didn't you?"

I couldn't believe that Huey Lewis out of all people doesn't think I'm a bad guy, I give him an answer, "Yes that's me, and you must be Huey Lewis?"

"Yeah! I also remember performing at a casino and seeing you in the crowd! Say, I can give you and your lady-friend here a ride to our next gig in New Vegas? I can even take your bikes along and throw in some VIP Passes for the show, it may not be enough to pay you back for saving our skins but it's the best I can do for now."

Reggie gives me a, "Well what are you waiting for?" look. I have to admit, getting a free ride from a celebrity means that a celebrity also means they have protection, which in turn means I'm safe!

I accept his generous invitation, "I'll be glad to accept your help Huey."

Huey grows a grin on his face and tells me, "Cool, I'll get my security here to put your bikes up in the bus. Okay boys! Get them bikes in the storage! Okay you two, get in the bus!"

Reggie ran around the bus to the door excitedly while I took a nice walk around to the other side. I seen two security guards who aren't in uniform go out to our bikes, roll them up to the side of the bus, and slide them in the storage compartment as if they didn't weigh much. We enter the bus and there was the whole band along with a few roadies and even some more bodyguards. Reggie and me still had many places to sit in this huge bus. As soon as Reggie and me sit down, the two non-uniformed guards return and seat themselves next to the door in swivel chairs. The driver checks that everybody is on board and he makes his exit to the highway. And now we can enjoy a relaxing and trouble-free ride to New Vegas with Huey Lewis & The News.


	23. Advice From Huey: Making Amends With You

"So Shadow, you always been doing Superman stuff." Huey Lewis says to me while we continue down the highway in his tour bus, I'm still in disbelief he knows of me and my good deeds out of all things to remember me by. "I remember when you saved me, the band, and everybody in the world, you have my respect. You used to be occasionally on the news, what have you been up to? Who or what are you saving this time?"

I think about that phrase Huey just said to me for a minute or two, then I give him this answer, "To be honest with you Huey, I've been trying to save myself. I had made some decisions in my life that weren't the best, and I'm trying to make things right. My wife is about to have my children and I'm not there to help her. Huey, I got scared, I think she might die having them."

Huey reclines in his seat after he heard what I just told him, then he leans forward and tells me something really important. "You maybe Superman, or whatever people call you or even what you call yourself;" Huey tightens his lips and nods his head as he is about to say the most valuable part of his message, "but Shadow, you're as great as you allow yourself to be. And even the toughest of tough, or the meanest of mean, have things they cannot do at all or are too torn because of what they couldn't control and surrender. Everyone has that 'Only One' in their life that was the most influential and valuable in their life and without warning, they get taken away from you, forever. But we got to continue the show with or without them Shadow, don't let one member, no matter how influential he or she was, ruin and break up the whole band. The greatest moments in your life are the ones yet to come Shadow, you got to go through the bad ones to get to the good stuff. I remember when the coolest kid in our junior high class, he had it all. But a few years after his school years, he became a drunk and one day got killed when he strayed out into a freeway one night. But he was awesome back then, and we will always remember that. But we can't let a curve-ball like that throw us off, no matter how bitter the loss maybe, we got to continue on and do what we do best."

After he told me that lengthy speech, I remember what Maria wanted me to do, to make everyone happy. I've made it a ways since Maria was taken away, but I can't run forever, I got to take a stand and face the music, even if it's shit like Justin Beiber!

"You know Shadow, I'm liking your thoughts right now." Reggie uses her signature brain intrusion on me again, "Maybe from here on out, you'll be much better at keeping your word to the ones who mean the most to you."

"Reggie, you know how I feel when you intrude my mind."

"I must have made a habit out of it Shadow."

"Habit is the correct word, Wedgie."

"You know, I think I'm starting to rub off... what's that outside?"

Something happening outside catches Reggie's attention, a little cat with a gun and a big monster of some sorts are fighting many people in black uniforms on a freight train running parallel with the highway we are traveling on. The train is also going in the same direction as us and has an equally black dual-rotor helicopter hovering over it. The people in black open fire on the towering monster, but the bullets have no effect on it and only seems to make it more and more upset. The bus driver who is completely unaware of the situation on the nearby train speak into the bus's loudspeaker to tell everyone on board this message,

"We have an estimated 30 minutes or less until we arrive in New Vegas!"

Huey Lewis & the rest of the band cheers, "Party at the Starstorm tomorrow night! Whooooo!"

But everybody wasn't cheering, one of the armed guards not in uniform noticed the action outside and it made him very uncomfortable. He's rocking abnormally in his swivel seat and opening and closing his Velcro pockets meticulously on his camouflage shorts which clash horribly with his blue Hawaiian summer shirt. The event outside must be making him relive a bad memory permanently etched in his mind. The other casually dressed bodyguard attempts to make him snap out of it by talking to him.

"Calm down, that was a long time ago. It's over. They're not there to attack you."

"It was cold," the blue-shirted bodyguard replies quietly, "Acrobat... Psycho... Blitz Shepherd... and me... Noid. We were in Northern Territory."

"Do you remember their real names, Cpl. Noid?"

"Col. Wight... Sgt. Mark... MSgt. Ben... and me... Cpl. Loid... respectively... you look like Sgt. Mark... are you Sgt. Mark?"

Loid's coworker is frightened because of Loid's accusation that he's somebody else. "No Loid, I... I'm not Sgt. Mark. I'm your coworker remember?"

Loid grows furious at the response, Loid pulls out his antique TT-33 handgun on his coworker and holds him point blank. "Don't lie to me Sgt. Mark! I know it's you! Don't play mind games with me you traitor! I know you didn't die on that mission!"

The terrified bodyguard screams at Loid, repeating his name in hopes to make him snap out of his undefinable trance, "Loid! Loid! Loid! Loid! Loid!"

Hearing his name, Loid finally gets out of his highly dangerous daze and returns to how he was before he went AWOL, "What happened? Why am I holding a gun at you?"

"You got yourself in some sort of psychotic trance, but we're glad you snapped out of it in time." The bodyguard says to Loid with relief that he successfully defused him before anybody got hurt.

"...dammit," Loid says disappointed with realization of what he just did and how he would've caused injury or death, "I need to find a way to end these, this keeps getting worse and worse. This sucks, I feel terrible. I'm sorry man."

"You're getting better at controlling yourself," the bodyguard reassures Loid, "you've watch and seen violent images before, but I guess you seen one too violent or something. That's my best observation. "

I had to ask Reggie what just happened, "Reggie, have any idea what caused that fit?"

Reggie contemplates a minute before answering me, "Well, I can only read your mind right now because my mind can channel in only with one other. So I cannot give you a concrete answer. But from what Loid said, the fight on the train must've made him relapse into an earlier point of his life. It was pretty damn impressive to see Loid act like that, I never seen that happen before to anybody. Especially at the level he did."

How could Reggie find that impressive? He just had a massive breakdown! A psychotic episode is not impressive, It's horrible to have a particular event in life that makes a person have a very serious and deadly flip out. Situations like these are also hard to undo and makes having a normal life hard. Very heartless Reggie, very heartless.


	24. (Lets Fucking Finish This!)At The Midway

At The Midway

* * *

Life on the road is a journey of self-realization

An excellent place to start your self-evaluation

There are many roads in your life

But you must pick only one despite internal strife

It's good to pull over and take a rest however

You'll need the nap, you'll be driving forever and ever

Down many roads you will travel

Some perfectly paved,

some that are laid

with coarse gravel

But you will hit a stop somewhere that you just can cannot deny

You're at the midway between a good start and a finish so divine

The midway is a magical place

It's the ultimate intersection with paths perfectly laced

The midway decides if you win or lose

Regardless of your mounting cost and notable losses

If you emerge victorious, the losses will not be in vain

If you fail, you'll forever be stained

Win or lose, both took time to get there

Because the roads gotta end somewhere

There, there my friend

Our visit at the midway may be ending

But be fortunate for you are one of the some

For you can proudly say that you've done

Something that most aren't lucky to be

That you've made it at the midway, maybe even in the lead

But let's not drabble anymore

We still need to rack up the score

And with all that in our minds and on our dishes...

Let's fucking finish this!


	25. Eggman's Dilemma

At last, I've done it! I caught him! I win! I win, I win! Now what do I do with this blue pest? Let me see... Place him in a furnace? Too simple, stereotypical, and cliché for someone as distinguished as myself. How about... just keeping him like a trophy? Even though that isn't done often, it would be boring just to walk by him or look at him in a display case. Think Eggman... you do have a high IQ... I got it! I shall place him in a combat suit and make him my mind-controlled slave! That would be delightful to have a servant who used to be my arch-nemesis! But still, he looks so sophisticated encased in a liquid nitrogen-filled display case.

"Okay, Eggman... my reward?"

"Oh... X-13... well... once I make and fit my mind controlling apparatus on Sonic of whom you caught for me without fail. I'll reward you extra if you can do me a small favor."

"That being?"

"I need you to oversee 5A77Y's recovery of a broken Shadow Android located somewhere in Death Valley for me. G.U.N. is also searching for it due to the vital information stored inside its solid state disc. I'll send Neo-Scratch along with you and 5A77Y for support."

"Shouldn't you keep Neo-Scratch near you? The N.R.O. is getting increasingly restless and they will tire of your defiance Eggman, they are Northerners after all and they do not accept no as an answer. Might I add that you have not only the N.R.O. on to you, but you also have G.U.N. & S.P.E.C.T.E.R. on your heels."

"That is not your problem, I will be just fine once I have Sonic under my control. All you need to do is make sure that 5A77Y & Neo-Scratch return with the Shadow Android, along with yourselves of course."

"Fine. Good day."

That X-13 gives me the chills! He is so machine-like and mechanical yet he is very organic. It doesn't make any sense. I better work on that suit quickly, there is no time to waste.

"Incoming call."

"Answer. Who is this?"

"Dah, you be Doctor... Ivo Robotnik. Me, Officer Nikolai Yezhov, I call behalf of N.R.O.. We give fair warning, deny you. We wait your reconsider. No surrender, we seize property. Now, where landing site? Tell now, no harm. No tell, you suffer."

"Ah, yes. You see, I have... misplaced the information and even I don't have access to it. So... why don't you go bother G.U.N. or something, they have access to it."

"You can't win. We seized Chun-Nan, they pathetic. We have no trouble making you crumble. We control biggest Armed Forces in world. Do tell, we spare you."

"I'm not afraid of you, why don't you go try reaching for the top shelf or the top of your refrigerator, you seem tall enough to do it."

"Don't need to, my loyal subjects do it for me. I'm only 1.5 Meters, but I have numbers, do you?"

"Don't make me laugh, you are no match for me. Numbers are meaningless."

"We see about that. Surrender you can. Good bye."

(End Transmission)

X-13 & 5A77Y better not fail me now, not until I place that pest, Sonic inside my mind-control armor.


	26. Dead Android In Death Valley

Dr. Robotnik does not understand the extent of the danger he is about to face, due to my existence starting in the future, I already have evidence that proves that he will fail. Robotnik's failure is inevitable due to drying resources and lack of resource-saving and interchangeable parts in his weaponry and engineering.

"Greetings, I am 5A77Y. Eggman has sent us to retrieve a broken Shadow Android."

A mechanical replica of a forest creature approaches me from my right as she greets me with a synthesized, feminine voice. This machined creation features illuminated blue eyes, polished auburn 'hair' plate with equally polished blue breast and pelvis plates. The unit features sharpened steel claws with wrist attached plasma blade generators, it also features jet thrusters for limited flight. But... this machine may be a hi-tech unit by this era's standards, but it's just an animated scrap pile by personal standards. 5A77Y lacks a critical necessity, automatic self-repair, or minimally a repair kit. Dr. Robotnik is next to the worst engineer for combat engineering, he can beat N.R.O. tech levels, but only by a small percentage. But whoever built 5A77Y, it is confirmed that Dr. Robotnik did not build or design this machine. It must be stolen.

"The Solid State Disc within the Android contains vital information. It is imperative that we return with the android without causing any more damage than the amount of already existing damage; further damage could result in the SSD's destruction and the failure of our mission."

I am curious, who built this robot.

"5A77Y," I commence questioning the machine, "who was your manufacturer?"

"I'm sorry, your question cannot be answered, my builder information is missing."

Dandy, 5A77Y must've been stolen before the manufacture data can be inserted. The machining on this robot is too precise, it could be from the area where Deutschland is. I would have to disassemble 5A77Y for builder info acquisition, but the data is not important.

"5A77Y, what is our transport to the site."

"I am equipped with flight-enabling thrusters that can lift the combined weight of you and me, I have enough fuel for only one trip."

"Okay 5A77Y, take us to the location."

"Grapple onto my arm."

With a high-strength grip onto 5A77Y's wrist, 5A77Y activates its thrusters and we fly out of Eggman's HQ. From up here in the sky, I can see the train tracks and the road leading to the inside of the base, I know the tracks head into the depot in the basement and the road leads to the indoor parking facility. As we fly southwest from Eggman's HQ, the lush green hills turn into the expansive, arid place that is known as Death Valley. 5A77Y and me land down to the surface within Death Valley. The time is 1436 hours, the sun is lowering down to the horizon so we better move as fast as we can to the location. 5A77Y is locating the broken Shadow Android on its radar.

"Location confirmed," 5A77Y says, "the Shadow Android is located at the base of a cliff 3/4 miles to the northeast."

"Lets get the android and leave ASAP."

5A77Y and me walk the dry 3/4 mile to the cliff's base. An hour passes as we travel on foot before we arrive to the broken android. It is a tragic sight to machine-kind to see a machine like this android broken down out here, but at least it remained out here for so long. 5A77Y and me examine the damage to the Shadow Android, the ploy-skin received very visible damage and noticeable tearing, the synthetic fur is very dirty from remaining out here in the desert for a long time. The left eye is very well preserved despite these harsh conditions but the right eye suffered a slight crack, possibly from the cause of the damage. The left arm is beyond repair due to a series of gun shots on the shoulder and wrist, the left hand was forcefully detached from similar gun shots and held a .357 magnum with only one bullet fired. I took the gun, the extra clip found next to it, and put both it in my pocket. 5A77Y extends a ribbon cable out of the palm of its hand and plugs it inside the broken android.

"I am searching the Shadow Android's action log," 5A77Y notifies me, "It may take me a minute to locate the log."

"There's no hurry out here, just don't corrupt the data."

With no indication in advance, the Shadow Android's eyes self-adjust automatically, and fix onto 5A77Y.

"I'm not real," the android says, "I'm just a toy. Please, leave me be here. I cannot go on... Maria."

5A77Y draws closer to Shadow Android and tells it, "You _ARE_ real, you physically exist. And why are you attempting to talk to a girl who has been dead for almost 60 years?"

"I'm not Shadow, I'm just a life-sized cheap replica." The android goes on, "Please, leave me be, I just want nature to break me down. I cannot die because I am not alive. I'm just a big action figure, my fate is to be played with until I break into pieces. Well, my body wasn't even made to be close to half as durable as the real one. Please, I want to to to self-destruct, but it's not possible to break break myself. Please, I... am... not... real..."

The Shadow Android's auxiliary power runs out and it shuts off, 5A77Y looks down and digs her metal claw in the sand. Is 5A77Y realizing loss? Sadness perhaps? I do not understand why a machine like 5A77Y would be sad? Shouldn't it be too primitive to have that feature?

"Are we ready to take the Shadow Android back to HQ?" I ask 5A77Y.

"Yes." 5A77Y answers. She grapples the Shadow Android with one claw and I grip onto its empty claw and then we fly out of Death Valley with what we were sent to retrieve. But 5A77Y's display of emotion, was it... real love?


	27. Final Warning Robotnik

"I serious, you reconsider NOW!" Officer Yezhov shouts over the video call at Robotnik, "You not know what we do to you."

"I'm afraid that _you_ don't know who _you_ are dealing with! Why don't you... Scratch! why didn't you go help 5A77Y & X-13?"

"Your safety is priority number one your Robotnikness." Neo-Scratch answers Eggman honestly, "I was warned that you will be under great attack."

"He will, clucking pile of bolts." Officer Yezhov comments as he signs a piece of paper, "I signed _your_ warrant, Kirill... here!"

From the left of the vertically challenged N.R.O. officer enters a Siberian Husky who has robotic legs and right arm. The husky's right half of his jaw has a metallic brace and his right eye is a cybernetic replacement with illuminated red-eye coloring which severely clashes with his organic teal eye. He looks over at the screen with a blank expression, he touches the camera with his fleshy hand and softly strokes the lens. The husky instantaneously turns to rage and grabs the camera and begins screaming into it in his native Northerner language. The only three words the upset canine shouted in English was Robotnik, Kalgan, and kill. Eggman leans back in his big chair, absolutely overloaded with shock as the enraged husky continues screaming in foreign tongue at the camera.

"Kirill... stop!" Officer Yezhov orders the husky, the husky forcefully returns beside Yezhov but the husky points at the screen and speaks a angst-filled line of foreign speech before leaving the room with the paper Yezhov signed earlier in his hand.

"Apparently he know you!" Officer Yezhov says with a carnivorous ear-to-ear grin. "We be in touch soon?" The video call ends with Robotnik relieved that the call is finally over. Robotnik slowly turns away from the screen and nervously pats the sweat off his hairless scalp.

"Good job, Scratch." X-13 congrats Neo-Scratch as he lugs a very beat-up Shadow Android, "Robotnik, we have returned with the busted android."

"Oh... um... good job..." Robotnik answers shakily to X-13 as he is still in shock from his video call earlier, "5A77Y, is... is the... SSD still in tact?"

"Yes Robotnik..." 5A77Y replies to Robotnik with a voice hinting disappointment, "but the personality appears compromised... could it be repaired?"

"Goo... Good! But I don't think personality repair is possible." Robotnik says to 5A77Y as he brings out a laptop with a cable similar to the one 5A77Y used on the Shadow Android earlier while X-13 places the Shadow Android on the desk, "Now to upload the landing coördinates from the android's SSD."

"But will you repair _him_?" 5A77Y asks Robotnik with what might be genuine concern for the Shadow Android.

"I don't know 5A77Y, we'll have to see about that." Robotnik answers 5A77Y as he plugs the cable from his laptop to somewhere inside the Shadow Android. "Now to upload the log."

As soon as the cable made connection to the contacts within the Shadow Android, the android reanimates again and grips Robotnik by his shirt collar and glares at him with robotic fury.

"You caused this you fucking fat fucker," The android sporadically shouts at Robotnik with a dirty voice synthesizer. "My last wish before you destroy me is for you to fucking die!"

X-13 walks over to the Shadow Android, grabs the android by the neck, and repetitively slams the android on the desk. Lose parts fall off the breaking android. Then X-13 lifts the android by the neck and savagely throws the android at a wall. The collision sends numerous parts and limbs flying off the android. The android rests on the ground with only the right arm and head still attached to the chest, the defenseless android makes a sorrowful whimpering noise from inside. The shorting servo-motors cause twitching in the android's neck and the android looks up at X-13 who is holding its left arm with wide open, synthetic eyes.

"Please..." Shadow Android demands X-13 before shutting off again, "Please... de de de de... toy... m... me..."

X-13 raises the Shadow Android's detached left arm and as X-13 was about to swing, 5A77Y uses its plasma blade and slices a cut on X-13's right wrist. The cut throws X-13 off target and misses the Shadow Android. X-13 retaliates and uses his right hand to grab the magnum out of his pocket and holds 5A77Y point blank to its eyes.

"Why are you attached to this piece of junk?" X-13 asks 5A77Y while a drop of black body fluid rolls out of freshly cut wrist. "It's over for it, and you obviously have some type of emotional programing. It is the worst thing for a machine to have."

"You are not human yourself," 5A77Y notices X-13's dark liquid slowly exiting his wrist wound which zips back together shut by itself. "why did you bleed at such a slow rate and you do not even have blood to bleed out."

"I may never understand why you're upset about a broken robot." X-13 questions 5A77Y before returning the magnum to his pocket, "And your display of potential emotion perplexes me."

"Stop it you two!" Robotnik intrudes in on the fight, "Now is not the time for you to fight each other."

Robotnik grabs his laptop and cable and connects the laptop to the Shadow Android again, but the android remains motionless this time. The laptop scans the SSD inside the Shadow Android until it found the file Robotnik wants.

"Perfect, the file is in tact!" Robotnik applauds as he clicks on the file on his computer to see it. "You see, 5A77Y, this android is a scout model which needs this SSD installed to have the memory capacity to store data for locations and even video footage!"

A video recording begins to a small cottage in the night with Angel Island suspended in the air in the background. The camera moves to the inside the miniscule structure and pans around the one-room shack. There was a small dress hanging on the wall above an ancient bed, the place is very well-preserved despite the place appearing to be from so long ago. A lunar white glow illuminates from behind the camera. The camera turns around to three white figures standing in the door way of the house, all the figures feature white skin, unusually slim builds, equally slim tails, ear-like protrusions, and one of them has gold-colored eyes while the other two have green eye color. The android draws out a magnum and fires one shot at the gold-eyed creäture, the gold-eyed being raised its hand and the bullet stops in the air and then falls to the floor. The lighting through the door and windows grow brighter and the screen turns to static. The static continues for 11 seconds before the recording goes to a road in Death Valley in the early morning. At one end of the road there was a light, the android fixes on the light which grew to two lights beside each other, then became four headlights beside each other. The lights approach with high-speed and soon collide with the android. The android flies to the side of the road which was next to the cliff's base, the light came from a huge station wagon which the car continued on for a distance until pulling over to the side of the road one mile away. The android crawls to the cliff base due to the legs being damaged from the collision. The driver of the station wagon get out of his car and goes to the tailgate and opens it. The driver then pulls out some sort of long-barreled weapon out of the back and places it on the ground behind the car, and then goes into the prone position behind the weapon. The person stays motionless behind the weapon for a while before firing. The weapon makes a massive bang and the round from the gun hits the android in the abdomen which send parts and ploy-skin scattering about. The screen returns to static and the recording ends.

"That was way more than I needed to know." Robotnik says as he saves the recording onto his computer and disconnects the cable from the android.

"What were those things?" 5A77Y asks Robotnik.

"Why do you even care?" X-13 critically asks 5A77Y.

"I don't know who or what those things are," answers Robotnik, "but I only have more questions than answers at this point."


	28. Bad Timing?

"Shouldn't we have told her the truth?" Tails asks Amy.

"You know how Rouge would've taken it." Amy answers Tails, "Cream seeing a Shadow look-alike, that would upset her enough to put her in labor."

"How about Sonic being abducted? Telling her he simply ran off doesn't fit his character."

"Do you think that guy with the ice gun was working for Eggman? I don't think Eggman would have _that_ kind of planning."

"I don't think so, somebody else is at play here. But who could that..."

_(BOOM!)_

"What the hell was that!?" Tails shouts surprised from that explosion.

"Tails! Amy! Help me!" Rouge screams helplessly for assistance.

"Rouge." Tails & Amy say unanimously.

Tails & Amy run across the hallway into Rouge's room while gunfire rips the front half of the house into splinters. Inside, Rouge moans in pain while a very battered Knuckles stands by her side for support. E-124 Omega stands guard as it waits for Tails & Amy.

"Tails, Amy, Get me out of here!" Rouge continues to scream at Tails & Amy in pain.

Tails opens the window to the back yard while Knuckles & Amy lift Rouge to the window. Tails sets Rouge down softly next to the wall while Amy & Knuckles make it out the window. Knuckles limps over to the back fence and punches out a few boards while Tails & Amy carry Rouge away from the house. E-124 walks through the wall and begins to follow everybody else.

"E-124, divert the enemy!" Tails orders E-124 as Tails goes through the hole in the fence Knuckles made. E-124 stays behind while Tails & his friends make their escape from the fighting. Knuckles limps ahead and down the street while Amy & Tails are lagging behind carrying Rouge.

"Tails... Amy..." Rouge moans out her message between breaths from her painful start of motherhood, "I need to go to the hospital... my babies..."

"Oh Rouge, hang on!" Tails says as he runs faster, Amy also moves faster because Rouge needs a hospital immediately. Knuckles collapses to the ground from his injuries catching up to him and shouts out to Amy & Tails, "Ah... I can't go on further... we need an ambulance..."

Tails & Amy set Rouge down softly on the sidewalk, Amy keeps Rouge upright and provides moral support while Tails calls the hospital on his phone.

"Yes, Hello... this is Miles Prower... we have an emergency... we need two ambulances immediately... on the corner of Eastwood & Northrop... they're on their way... good... thank you..."

Tails kneels down to Rouge and supports her while Amy checks on Knuckles.

"The ambulances are on their way here," Tails assures Rouge the best way he can, "you'll be fine, just keep breathing."

"Shadow's not going to be fine when I'm through with him!" Rouge roars at Tails with fury because Shadow is not by her side when she needs him most.

"That's just the pain talking," Tails tries to keep Rouge from getting even more upset, "he'll be here Rouge, I promise. He's just taking a long time."

While Rouge, Tails, Amy & Knuckles get out of harms way, E-124 Omega continues fighting Armor Fist and numerous S.P.E.C.T.E.R. agents. The agents open fire on Omega with heavy machine-guns and Rocket Launchers, but nothing seems to dent or even slow this robot down. Omega proceeds to increase S.P.E.C.T.E.R.'s casualties with its new weapons and upgrades including high-velocity guns, grenade launchers, and hi-output lasers. Armor Fist's main weapon, the very-antiquated MG42, is not doing anything to Omega despite its high rate of fire and strong 8mm Mauser ammunition. The MG42 quickly runs out of ammo and stops firing, Omega then uses its grenade launcher and blast Armor Fist right where the nuclear reactor is in his armor. The reactor's radiator cracks and steam pours out of the armor's chest. A valve inside the armor shuts off the broken section of the radiator, but instead of resume fighting, Armor Fist retreats from Omega.

A black, dual-rotor cargo helicopter lowers from the night skies and assists Armor Fist in retreating by shooting at Omega with all its Vulcan guns while it lifts the heavily damaged cyborg into the cargo hold with its winch. Omega opens fire at the helicopter with all guns blazing, but the helicopter is deflecting most of it with a built-in E.M. shield. The pilot shouting inside warns the helicopter's passengers, "The shields cannot hold up to this much longer!" The helicopter hurries away with the busted Armor Fist and retreats, and as fast as the agents showed up, they were gone. E-124 now is left alone in the street with dead agents surrounding it, the large amounts of blood from the deceased flow into the street gutters.

A few blocks away, two ambulances arrive and assist Rouge & Knuckles by transporting them to the hospital. Tails rides with Knuckles in one ambulance while Amy rides with Rouge in the other ambulance as both ambulances hurry to the hospital. Squad cars, P.I. cars, and S.W.A.T. trucks speed the opposite way completely unaware of the situation they are about to enter. The medics aboard the ambulances do their best to make sure that Rouge and Knuckles make it to the hospital almost an hour away in Central City.

* * *

Out on a remote vacation island and in complete ignorance of what has happened for almost the past year, the G.U.N. Commander plays a relaxing game of golf while wearing his plaid shorts and matching sweater vest. He is about to have his vacation get a wake-up call as he receives a phone call when he is about to putt in a golf ball on the 18th hole.

"Hello?" The G.U.N. Commander says so idly and relaxed on the phone, "What!? Rouge's been attacked AND in labor!? Shadow is missing!? Usen's gone AWOL!? Are you fucking kidding me!? Ben also broke out of prison!? I'll be right there after I sink in this golf ball!"

The G.U.N. Commander now completely aware of what he missed strikes the golf ball with his putter and barely puts the golf ball in the hole. "I never lose my touch." He says with a grin.

"Here's your Pina Colada sir." Says the waiter who casually walks up to the commander, "Can I get you anything else?"

"Actually yes," says the edged-up G.U.N. Commander while he hastily downs his Pina Colada, "I'd like a ride to my private jet, I have some incompetency to swat out immediately!"


	29. My Mask Is Slipping

I'm afraid my mask that is Usen Amiatttt is slipping away. It never had a long life anyway. It was unavoidable for me to eventually be sought out. If I'm going to be revealed, I'm taking that Col. Wight down with me. He needs... no, he _must_ know what it's like to hide for so long only to have all that hard work gone in a second. Catch-22 is the only thing I'll ever live by only because it wants to live by me. If he can think this mission can fail without costing him anything, then he's got another thing coming. I think I'll take him down personally... a favor for a friend?

I remember that day, out in the cold. I played along with Wight's act, because he was my 'friend' right? We cost G.U.N. MSgt. Ben & Cpl. Loid along with ourselves of course. On A.R.K., we pressured Ben into letting that thing lose in there. And with the bust arms deal with the N.R.O. a year later, we lost Ben & Loid out in the frigid snow. We never knew what happened to Loid, but Ben got canned in Cryogenic-Prision and recently escaped. As for me, my death falsified to save myself and Wight got the best end of the deal including retiring as a hero who busted an arms deal. Because I'm his 'friend' right? Is that what 'friends' do? I only remember 'fiends' doing that. The best person whose got a chance once this shit collapses is Reggie, I want to save her from this. She deserves a better future than what she's going to get, Reggie's confusion of her own power is what defeats her the most. Reggie has the power to save generations upon generations to come, she shouldn't be so bent to destroy or hurt them like she does. I don't know how many have died or been destroyed by Reggie's confusion, the number would only make it harder for me to sleep than it already is. Just the people I've ruined has already stained my conscience where it will never wash off.

So there it is, New Vegas, I've been here enough times its glamor and lights don't faze me anywhere near as it once did. It was fun to have a meet-and-greet here now and then when I joined S.P.E.C.T.E.R. but the polish is well faded away at this point. Now to check into the Starstorm's Hotel for the millionth fucking time. Hmph, there she is... Reggie is already getting the hotel room at the front desk with Shadow caught in her bloodied noose. I honestly am surprised that Reggie is behind like this... did she take her time to get here? Anyway, I stay away a great distance so I don't blow my dying cover so it can wither away than die instantly. Watching Reggie enjoying having Shadow wrapped in her web makes me feel like a whole shit, I want to shoot her in the head and free him before it's too late if it isn't already. Maybe I should blow my head off so I don't have to watch things like this anymore, but I'm not a quitter like that.

So I stay back until Reggie & Shadow leave the front desk and go fuck off on their merry way to their hotel room. I resume my façade by pretending I give a fuck, I walk up to the front desk with a false warmth and say "Good day." to the receptionist who waits there. She asks for a name and I give her my pretend name, Usen Amiatttt. She slips me a card key to my room and I 'happily' bid her farewell. I make it over to the elevators that are a ways away from the front desk and push the button for the 10th floor. The elevator takes an inconveniently long time to get down to the first floor and an equally inconvenient amount of time to get me up to the 10th floor. The elevator was playing a nice, touching tune while I wait for the 10th floor... it was 'Human' by The Human League. 'Human' is a pretty damn serious song for something New Wave... it talks about how two life partners were unfaithful to each other while they been apart and how they try to make amends. But I wish my situation could work out like some sort of 'fairy tale' but I dug too far deep for myself, there isn't a nice end in store for someone who isn't nice like me.

Once the elevator makes it to the 10th floor, I idly leave and walk to my room. I swipe the card and the door opens by itself, like magic. There was the typical five-star hotel stuff inside... shower, toilet, two big & lush beds, flat screen HDTV, coffee maker, alarm clock, nice lamps, mini-fridge, microwave, all of that. I take my jacket and card key and set them on one bed while I take the other where I set my shades on the desk in-between the two beds. I slowly lower myself down to the bed and for reasons I could never explain the ceiling seems to be taller than I remember it being. I look over at the Flat Screen TV and it and the desk it sits on also appears to be further from me than I remember. I get off the bed and everything seems to be fine, including my earlier visual of increased distance vanishing. I walk to the desk and pick up the remote and turn the TV on. The TV is on the news channel and everything seems fine too up until the newscaster says, "Next up is how sticking your balls in a microwave can cure cancer followed by how eating hedgehogs can increase your life span, all of that and more after these messages!" My hand that holds the remote starts to shake with total disbelief as I just heard that from the TV. I glance over to the mini-fridge and see if there is anything to drink, I open it up and there was Shadow's head in there on a platter next to some Jack Daniels on the top shelf and there's Sonic's head on a plate on the bottom shelf. "Well," Shadow head starts talking to me, "Eat up! Do you want to live longer?" "Hey mister, do you think you can serve me in a chili dog?" Sonic's head adds right before I slam the door as hard as I could.

I sit down on the bed and repetitively tell myself that this isn't happening over and over while I take deep breaths. I calm down a bit and look around before I get back up on my two feet. I walk over to the mini-fridge and there was only the Jack Daniels in there. I grab that son of a bitch out of there as fast as I could and start to drink it. I look under the bed and there's nothing under it, so far so good. I look in the closet, nothing's in there. Okay, I go into the bathroom and splash water on my face a couple of times. I look at my reflection in the mirror and everything seems to be okay. But behind me I hear sniveling that sounds like a little girl who is sad. I slowly turn around and there's a little white hedge-bat girl with a crystal attached to a gold necklace looking down with her hands over her heart, but blood drips out from between her fingers. "Where did it go?" She asks me with a little girl voice as she looks up to me slowly with big, teary, green eyes. "What did you do with my heart?" The little girl lets down her hands and reveals a hole in her chest with blood dripping out. "No... no... NO!" I shout at the little girl as she gets upset at me. "It's your fault, you took it away from me!" She lunges out at me and I fall face down to the floor in panic. I get up and look around and that little girl wasn't there or anywhere in the bathroom. I look at my reflection once more and it looks okay at first but my reflection is wearing my jacket and my shades, I know I am not wearing my jacket or my shades, and my reflection's shades has the right lens cracked. It tells me this line before chuckling at me, "What's the matter? You're just doing your job!"

I throw myself out of the bathroom scared out of my mind. Across from the closet is Miles and Knuckles tied to posts, they both look at each other and Miles is tearing up as he says, "Well Knuckles, you're one of the best friends I know." "Goodbye Tails." Knuckles answers frowningly as the closet doors swing open, revealing two S.P.E.C.T.E.R. agents armed with assault rifles and wear shades with the cracked right lens. They both say in unison, "S.P.E.C.T.E.R., Aim, Fire!" I hit the floor as the agents open fire on the restrained Miles and Knuckles, killing them in firing squad fashion. I run out into the main room in terror as I just seen multiple creatures that I've never intend to hurt get horrifically mutilated, I'm only doing my job. "So what's wrong chickenhawk? Can take the heat?" The voice comes from a guy who looks just like the reflection I seen in the bathroom only moments ago, he leans over me looking at me through those cracked shades with blank eyes hiding behind them. He kicks me in the jaw, flipping me over on my back like a pancake. Then there's Rouge looking over me with her arm crossed and a very angry look on her face, she speaks to me, "This is all your fault, you're going to have to deal with me!" Shadow's head falls onto my chest with blood leaking out of his severed neck and follows with, "And me." The little hedge-bat girl I seen earlier with the hole where her heart use to be leans over me and adds with, "And me." Then Miles & Knuckles stand over me with fresh bullet holes in their bodies with blood pouring out onto me continue with, "And we." And finally my fucked up look-alike looks over me and tops it all off with this line, "And yourself!" I throw Shadow's head at my morbid double and shove everybody out of the way and run to the balcony absolutely frightened, I run at the handrail too fast and almost throw myself out of the building 10 stories high! I hang onto the rail with all my strength and cry out, "Help! Help! Get me back up! Help! I didn't know it was going to be this way! Help me!"

Shortly, I hear people down at surface. I look down and a crowd is forming as they watch me hang on for dear life. My double with the cracked shades walks up to the balcony and says one more line before fading away, "Do you know how stupid you look right now? This is an absolute Kodak moment!" I respond ragingly to it with, "Fuck you! Do you think this is funny asshole?" As I hang on the handrail for my life. More and more people mass below me as my strength fails me, this is looking bad for me. Death is most certainly in the cards. It looks like it's over for me, my hands finally slips off the edge and I start to fall to my death, goodbye everyone.


	30. Could She Be A Mom?

What? I'm not plummeting to my death? Why am I not falling goddamn it? Who has me by the arm?

"I'm not going to let you die on me!"

That voice, I know who it is but I must look up to make sure it is her. It is! She is the last person I would've ever expect to save me. She's using all her strength to keep me from falling. Why?

"Well! Are you going to help yourself back up or are you going to look at me funny?"

With our efforts combined, she and I work together to get me back up there to safety. I'm stunned as why she is doing this for me.

"I... I don't know how to say thank yo..."

She cracks me over the head with her fist in a kind of anger that isn't like a normal, typical kind of anger that anybody would display. Very specific, very different, very... warm.

"You stupid son-of-a-bitch! Why did you do that for? Do you want to die? Because I can make it quick and painless if you want me to."

"No Reggie, that isn't necessary. Why did you know I was on the edge? You and I know that you are only capable of linking to one person at a time."

"Because... when you know you're the only one worth a shit in a group, you have to know. I don't know how to make sense of it to you in any other way."

I must ask her this question, I think she has more depth to it than that. That's my gut feeling anyway... or am I about to...

"You look green... here's a trash bin."

After emptying the contents of my stomach into the trash bin she just handed over to me, I'll ask her the question.

"Reggie... do you have... children?"

"You know my medical report! I'm a first class virgin! What would make you think that?"

"I cannot lie to you, especially now that you've saved me. You act like you've had one before."

She sighs and clears her throat before telling me something that I would least expect.

"Only one, and she's in a very safe place. Not even I can get to her."

I'm genuinely surprised of her answer, her medical exam clearly contradicts this. How could she have one?

"But your medical..."

"Usen... it's the fucking 5th millennium you dumb-ass! 4004? Remember? Isn't it a great year!? There maybe the old cars and whatever else still around, but don't you realize that there's at least some considerable medical feats that we achieved? AIDS bit the dust back in the 3rd millennium. The only reason we have the older tech because there's no fucking logical reason to reinvent the wheel! And don't you remember the Third & Fourth World Wars as well as the Last Great War of the 4th millennium from the mandatory history course? It proves that making things too complex will make it easily defeated by the most basic things. Walking mechas? Blown to bits by ancient T-55 & Tiger I Tanks, they just started aiming for the legs. The only reason we keep them in service is for when there are mine fields and they are mainly used to help the tanks. The mechas are even used to carry the tanks over difficult areas. That's only one out an enormous catalog of examples I can remind you why we keep the old stuff around. The only reason we keep the old stuff is because it helps out the new stuff as well as vice versa. Another one is how everybody doesn't get rid of battleships simply because the rounds from a battleship cannot be found or countered by radar or laser-guided avoidance systems. Yeah, think about that one for a minute Mister I'm-A-Fucking-Psychologist-Who-Isn't-Good-At-Anything-Else. However, I am jealous of your persuasion tactics and how effective it is despite you not having powers like I do."

Despite her very long-winded speech, I still know there is no way to keep her virginity even with the medical advances we have today. It maybe possible to reverse the physical part, but a lie detector would fault it right away.

"So who's the father of your child?"

"None of your fucking business."

If it is one thing I can always tell about Reggie is I know when she is angry and if I angered her.

"Usen... I'm going back to my room. If you have any hallucinations, call me okay?"

"Okay. Reggie?"

"What?"

"Thank you."

Reggie walks out of my room and heads down the hall back to her hotel room. If it's one thing that perplexes me about her is how could any male be compatible with a woman like her and get her to bear a child? Reggie's obviously protective of her reproductive stuff. What is her guy's secret? I bet he must be unbelievably strong as well as intelligent... but it's usually either one quality or the other. There is almost never both.


	31. Practice Session

I don't get why Reggie ordered me to watch Huey Lewis & The News practice but if she's allowing me a break from her then I'll happily take it. But she was very abrupt about it, did she have an emergency or something? Don't matter, at least I have a private concert where it's just me, the band, and no Reggie. But that woman over there by the bar, she looks just like Rouge but much older. The resemblance is painful...

"Hey Shadow, you get a nice seat?"

"Yes I did, but why do you need practice Huey? You've been playing these songs for a very long time."

"We've been working on a new one, I think you'll like it. But first, we need to warm up our usual material of course. We got to look and play good for the owner and his baby."

The old bat at the bar giggles like a young woman and waves at Huey Lewis while sipping wine out of a little glass. "Aw... you're so sweet Huey! Love ya!" She comments with an ear-to-ear grin.

"Can you hear us from all the way over there, Rina?" Huey asks her through the microphone on stage.

"Obviously when you use the mic!" She yells out at him obviously sauced from wine consumption, "This party's gonna rock! Woooooooo!"

"Yes it will." Huey responds with a laugh while he readies himself for the first song to practice. "Ahem... okay... now to play 'Is It Me'. Ready guys?"

"Ready as we will ever be." The band answers Huey.

The band begins to play that song I heard on the radio earlier, especially now that they are there live on stage, I remember Rouge and me slow dancing near the stage with the music, the band playing up there and... wait... this is the same place Rouge and me slow danced. Now I feel terrible that I know this is the place we did that at. I wonder how she is doing, I bet she's at home alone waiting for me.

"You like the show Shadow?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I know you from TV, but you don't know me at all... name's Gris."

Gris huh... now he looks like Rouge if she was a man, took steroids, and had gray fur instead of white. Now I'm starting to get uncomfortable... two bats who have similarities to Rouge. If they're blood, than I'm in deep shit. Just don't say anything to insinuate any of it.

"So Gris... what do you do?"

"Kill people... steal things... whatever brings the money home."

"Well Gris... we might have something in common. Do you happen to have children or siblings?"

"No kids, I have a sister."

Way too fucking go me.

"Does she have a name?"

I hope it isn't Rouge...

"According to my father it's Rouge."

...shit. Now Shadow, don't say anything about my relationship with her.

"My father gave me this address so I can meet her in person. I wonder what she's like? Well, it's nice meeting you Shadow. Hope you enjoy the show."

Finally he fucking leaves, whew... now hopefully I won't be interrupted again. In fact, I hope I never run into him or him running into me again!

"Hey Shadow ready for your song?" Huey asks me from the stage.

"I'm ready Huey. Play it." I answer.

"Okay, ready... 1... 2..."

Huey gets interrupted by the band manager who stops them and whispers something into his ear.

"Really... okay... well Shadow I'm sorry I can't play the song now. We gotta leave because the people are going to get this place ready for tomorrow night. I guess we'll play it at the party. See ya later Shadow."

"Okay Huey, thanks for the invite."

I leave the concert hall of the casino and towards the hotel wing so I can rest up, so much has happened today. Hopefully, tomorrow will go without a hitch.


	32. A Secret Millennia Old

"It's time, Blue of Midnight... awaken."

With that line said, Rain-Guia wakes to a different room but with similar furniture she seen earlier and is still in the liquid-filled sphere that she got placed in while she was on the ship. The little echidnian panics inside as she doesn't know how to exit as there are no physical means of getting out.

"Force will never work," Giyo transmits his voice into her mind, "Use your will to exit."

Rain-Guia pushes on one side of the sphere as she thinks of the ball she's inside opening. As the girl presses on the side, an exit reveals itself right where she is pushing on the sphere, and she shoots out of the newly formed exit and falls on her chest flat on the floor. Rain-Guia stands up on her own but her legs have weakened from lack of use. Rain also notices her skin is glowing a faint blue from underneath which scares her.

Giyo chuckles friendly at Rain's beginner's mistake of exiting the sphere with force before sending her this message, "I see my genetics have awakened within you, you most certainly remind me of your mother. Why don't you walk outside and see what our world looks like."

Rain-Guia looks around the room for the door which fit flush with the wall. She thinks of exiting the room and with no indication the door slowly opens on its own, letting intense sun light into the dark room. The new world that awaits for Rain-Guia is very different from Earth, there is pyramid like structures suspended in the air, random pillars float about, and the beings similar to the ones she seen on the ship are the very beings that populate this world and float about with no inhibition. Rain-Guia sees a flat plank decorated with the very lines that cover the structures and the walls of her room drifting to her open door, Rain anxiously swipes it out of the air and stands on it. The board levitates due to Rain willing it to stay afloat which she ambitiously attempts it to move her about her room. Rain gets a brave idea as uses this plank as transportation, which she leaves her room hovering on it going over 200 M.P.H., forgetting that she is still in her birthday suit. Rain wills the plank to go faster and faster, filling her young heart with intense adrenaline of going incredulously fast on nothing but a decorated tablet. The populace stares with confusion as they've never seen the likes of her before, let alone flying almost 300 M.P.H. carelessly.

"Enjoying your flight?" Giyo asks the energized echidna while she soars blindly past the buildings and populace. The message distracts Rain-Guia and the board collides with a floating pillar, swiping the levitating plank from underneath her and sends the surprised echidna sailing at breakneck speed into a pyramid. A door opens on the pyramid and Rain soars into the opening, Rain panicking prevents her from making a hard landing on the floor but instead glides smoothly with her nose less than an inch from the grooved surface. Rain coasts down to a halt in front of Giyo who was waiting for her arrival. Giyo looks down at his protégé and idly waits for her to look up back at him. Little Rain peeks up embarrassingly at Giyo for she wasn't exactly being mature in such a sophisticated, new world.

"Blue of Midnight, you should conserve your energy." Giyo advises Rain as she gets back up on her feet. "Besides, you'll have plenty of time to play later. Come along, there are many who await for your appearance."

Rain-Guia and Giyo continue down the hall beside each other and enter a room which is immensely populated with beings who look alike to Giyo, only differing in eye color. Rain & Giyo head up to the stage and stand beside each other, one of the beings communicate, "She is the reckless child who almost caused many accidents upon our society." Rain blushes as she acknowledges the comment. Giyo readies himself as he is about to speak.

"Greetings everyone," Giyo starts his speech with a greeting, "Thank you for your attendance. I bring you together to welcome the visitor from Earth. Everybody, give a kind greeting to Rain-Guia."

All the beings in the room look at Rain-Guia with perplexing looks. One of them asks her, "What is the purpose of those two protrusions on your upper chest?"

"Upper..." Rain thinks to herself as she looks down at her breasts, she doesn't know what they do herself other than define she is a female.

"Everybody, don't ask her question about her that even she doesn't have the answer to." Giyo answers as he heard the question concerning Rain's breasts.

"Giyo," another beings asks, "Didn't you say your child will be in attendance?"

"She is." Giyo answers and the beings become confused and outraged at his answer. Rain doesn't know what's in store for her.

"Where is she?" Rain asks Giyo in absolute confusion, Giyo then transforms into a black echidna who looks just like her father. Rain looks with total shock as she cannot make sense of the situation herself.

"You are her," Giyo tells her with fatherly affection, "I have awaited this day for millennia, my little Blue of Midnight, Rain-Guia."


	33. Confessing To A Reckless Child

"Giyo," another beings asks, "Didn't you say your child will be in attendance?"

"She is." Giyo answers and the beings become confused and outraged at his answer. Rain doesn't know what's in store for her.

"Where is she?" Rain asks Giyo in absolute confusion, Giyo then transforms into a black echidna who looks just like her father. Rain looks with total shock as she cannot make sense of the situation herself.

"You are her," Giyo tells her with fatherly affection, "I have awaited this day for millennia, my little Blue of Midnight, Rain-Guia."

"Dad?" Rain-Guia asks in shock of Giyo reveal that he is Rain's biological father.

"Yes, Blue of Midnight. I am." Giyo answers his biological daughter by utilizing his mind to transmit the message into his daughter's head, the attendees went into an estatic uproar over this confession. Chaos such as this almost never happen in sophisticated cultures like this one. In Giyo's race, only potential logical fallacies or decisions that can potentially risk the races' existence do they ever get upset at this level or even higher.

"Your decision is dangerous!" One of them warns Giyo amongst the pandemonium. "You know how most, if not all, of E-0912's populous base their decisions on emotional and/or impulsive stimuli! They're primitive, dangerous, and still wear clothes! Not to mention she made quite a display earlier!"

"That maybe true," Giyo responds to the warning, "but I am willing to take such a risk. We need a messenger who is of E-0912's birth, that messenger shall be my daughter. E-0912 is yet very young and have still a long ways in evolution. Remember, we are drastically advanced than E-0912's populous but we are not or never will be perfect. We can only be so close to perfect, but the idea of perfect is a flawed and antiquated idea, therefore, perfect can never be achievable. We, like the inhabitants of E-0912, are always learning and will be as long as we Giyans exists."

After Giyo's speech, the masses settle down and return to civilized behavior as it was before. Another member of Giyo's race asks him a question, "How could you mate and reproduce with your child's mother? Was she incubated within the mother through a mating ritual or was external measures taken?"

"That is a question more suited for a different time." Giyo answers following it with a suggestion, "You should take the university biological course for a better understanding than I could ever provide to you."

"Giyo," Rain asks with awe of her shape-shifting, extraterrestrial father; "Why?"

"It was necessary for you to become a better member of the populace of E-0912." Giyo answers plainly to his emotionally ambiguous and intensely confused daughter, "And said members of E-0912 are too emotional based to hold such a firm trust with me, our people, and yourself. Your mother is a good person and we have a strong personal bond, but you will see that she is almost an absolute slave to the very power she holds, the similar power that you, me, and all of us here wield. But it's time you make your exit, explore this world that is new to you. Go now Blue of Midnight, your life will never return to what it once was."

Rain-Guia leaves the stage and the room with everybody staring at her. Rain's been swiped from the familiar Earth and now tossed confused and undirected into a new world 1000 light years away. The Earth has already changed so much during her trip to this distant planet. But amongst the near-infinite questions that fill her young mind, one sticks out and stands on top of them all; where's her mom?


	34. Eggman Salad (Desert Return)

"At long last, it is complete!" Eggman gloats and laughs over his greatest accomplishment yet, he finally has his nemesis under his control. "That blue pest is now my loyal servant! Now, activate!"

Within the suit of combat armor that rests on a table in front of Doctor Eggman lies Sonic who's trapped within. Eggman dons his upgraded goggles as two blue eyes illuminate within the tinted lenses of the armor's helmet. A symphony of humming is heard inside the armor while it powers on.

"Eggman?" The entrapped Sonic says monotonously in his forced trance, "What can I do for you?"

"Well my new loyal subject..." Eggman says to Sonic while he thinks of the first thing to order him to do, "...go grab me a cola!"

"I will no... yes I will." Sonic temporarily snaps out of mind control before returning to taking Eggman's orders unconditionally.

"Might have to increase the juice a tad. Sonic must have notable restraint to it." Eggman thinks out loud as Sonic goes fulfill his request.

"If you say 'It's Over 9000' with those goggles on I'll kill you myself." X-13 warns Eggman who is over-enjoying his career's milestone.

"Relax, you are there just for insurance for when something goes wrong. You haven't done too much." Eggman replies to his hired hit-man as Sonic returns with a cold bottle of cola. Eggman cracks open the bottle and drinks up before commenting with praise, "Ah... not even shaken, good job."

5A77Y watches the shiny battle armor with an emotion displaying sadness, X-13 glances over with disgust that an electronic entity shows human qualities. "Allowing emotions to conflict with your occupation will cost you your existence you animated ash tray." X-13 advises 5A77Y with a hint of what could potentially be hatred.

"How can YOU be so emotionally dead when a life-form is under unconditional control?" 5A77Y asks X-13 while almost freezing from the conflict because X-13 looks very human-like but acts nothing like the part, "You appear very human but your body repairs itself with such efficiency and you have no apparent emotions."

"I may appear human," X-13 answers coldly to 5A77Y, "but my appearance is entirely an illusion to what I really am. Try to process that or are you too limited in processing power to do so? I am nothing but a creation such as yourself. Our emotion has no weight among the hamburger and is a purposeless feature for a machine."

While X-13 and 5A77Y debate amongst each other, Eggman fine tunes Sonic's armored restraints, furthering Sonic's pressure that's exerted on his mind. As everybody does their activities, an explosion rocks the entire place. Eggman sprints over to his computer only to discover that the underground rail depot has just had a train crash down in there at the end of the tracks. All the cameras down there but one been wiped out from the accident, the only functioning camera displays a couple crunched up locomotives billowing burning diesel smoke. As the smoke continues to obscure the camera view, Eggman notices a weird creature exiting the wrecked locomotives. Eggman has never seen anything of the likes of it before, it has wings but it looks like a hedgehog.

"What kind of abomination is that!?" Eggman watches the computer screen with astonishment before another explosions rocks the lair. Everybody topples over from the explosion's magnitude save X-13 who idly leans on the wall watching the chaos unfolding before his synthetic eyes.

"I warned you ignorant fools." X-13 monotonously answers while he maintains a cold and machined expression. "I guess you better prove me wrong now if you can Eggman."

The big monitor on the wall behind Eggman activates automatically and displays a smirking Nikolai Yezhov who's obviously enjoying Eggman's mess.

"You deny, you dealt with." Yezhov says as he chuckles and cackle with delight of Eggman's horrible situation. Eggman continues to panicky sift through the security camera screens until he sees the husky he seen earlier and a man in some sort of armor that emits sparks within the armor's arm-mounted gun. The static from the armor's weapon acts on the camera and the picture becomes fuzzy before going blank. Eggman's jumps away from the laptop in fear and turns to the window that over looks his compound; N.R.O. tanks, trucks, S.S.M. launchers, and numerous enemy soldiers all running toward his lair and they all look like a bunch of ants swarming to his lair. Eggman's base defenses and noble minions fight on and on diligently against the enemy, but the enemy simply just has too many numbers coming at them and soon get blown to pieces by enemy tanks. Eggman shifts to his desk and slams the big red button and alarms sound while heavy doors lower and seal the exits and entry points, slowing down the incoming enemy. Eggman swipes his laptop off the desk while Yezhov laughs maniacally at Eggman's vain attempt to stop him, "Run! Run!" Yezhov roars at the ecstatic Eggman through the monitor, "You can't win!"

"You may have won this one," Eggman responds bravely as he and everybody leave for the emergency exits, "But you will not next time!"

"We'll see to that!" Yezhov boasts as he proceeds to laugh uncontrollably before he ends the video call. Eggman and Co. head to the top of the building where Eggman has his Eggmobile warmed up and running, 5A77Y shoulders the damaged Shadow Android while Neo-Scratch and X-13 guard behind. Eggman hops in the Eggmobile and throws out a ladder for Neo-Scratch and X-13 to grab onto. 5A77Y carries the Shadow Android and flies ahead of Eggman. The winged creäture hops out of a grate in the roof and shouts out, "You're not getting away from me!" as it shoots at X-13, punching holes in his chest which bleed considerably. X-13 almost falls off the ladder but Neo-Scratch grabs his arm and hangs on tight. Through the open escape door on the rooftop runs out the husky from earlier and the armored soldier, the husky opens fire on the fleeing Eggmobile while the armored soldier fights the winged creäture. The winged creäture sprints from the rooftop and falls for a long distance before using its wings to glide away to safety.

5A77Y and Eggman continue to fly away from the captured lair; Eggman looks back and a Mikoyan MiG-35 cruises up beside Eggman and the pilot looks over at him while he takes his mask and glasses off. The pilot was a boy of about 17 years with blonde hair and blue eyes who nods 'no' before telling something to Eggman through the radio. The boy speaks his message in his Northerner language which Eggman cannot understand before banking the MiG-35 away from Eggman, the shot but still alive X-13 who understands the boy's Northerner language says to Eggman, "He said he won't shoot you out of the sky. You are defenseless and he was ordered to blow you out. You must surrender, he will not spare you again." Eggman looks at the distant MiG-35 until it disappears from sight.

The green land turns into the desert known as Death Valley, Eggman and Co. have flown for quite a distance as they head over to the next lair somewhere near the Equator. While they continue to fly up in the sky, there is somebody down at the surface waiting for them. A lone person points his tripod mounted, big bore rifle up into the air and zones in on 5A77Y and fires one shot at it. Everyone up in the air hears a loud bang from ground level, nothing happens for a few seconds until 5A77Y is hit with a heavy round that punches a hole into the front chest plate but doesn't exit out the back. 5A77Y tells Eggman glitching sadly, "Goo-Good-Bye Egg-Egg-Eggman..." 5A77Y's thrusters shut off and plummets down to the ground along with the Shadow Android it was carrying, Eggman looks down and watches 5A77Y crash into the ground of Death Valley. Eggman looks at his laptop before saying, "It served me well, but it's purpose was fulfilled." X-13 looks down at the crash landing with disgust as he comments, "Feelings don't get a machine far 5A77Y. Farewell..."


	35. Kugel's Calling You Commander

"Yes... yes... I see... well we must take action immediately. Okay then."

"Commander, there is a call you _must _answer right away."

"Put em' on the line now. Hello?"

"Ah... Commander, I hear you're enjoying your hard-earned vacation."

"Kugel... I had a gut feeling you would call about now. How's business? Do you know about all of this madness unfolding before us?"

"Since I am Director Kugel, the leader of the Special Private Engagement Core, or S.P.E.C.. I have some potential info from my S.P.E.C.T.I.R. division; Tactics, Intel, & Reconnaissance. There is confirmed turncoats amongst our ranks who need to be addressed, I only have potential names of suspected members."

"Do you happen to have said suspects in a physical file ready for me to pick up personally Kugel?"

"Yes we do, I have no trouble of giving you the files."

"Kugel... I must ask you?"

"Ask me what Commander?"

"Did you honestly disband your Tactical Enterprise Relations division S.P.E.C.T.E.R. back in 3984?"

"Yes I did Commander, just as the bill passed wanted me to do. S.P.E.C.T.E.R. is no more, it was a useless division anyway as it did not get us any closer to defeating the Northerners back then and also wasted our funding."

"It better be defunct Kugel, no lies?"

"No lies."

"Good. See you at the airport in New Vegas where you will hand me the file containing those names."

"No problem, good day sir."

_(Click)_

"Do you need another Pina Colada?"

"Please, my vacation isn't over until I'm off of my jet. I think Kugel has more in store for me."


	36. Completing Business

"Spitzer Kugel, what is your next move?"

"Well, here is where the pieces lie my uninformed underling. We have placed those four fools in a corner thanks to my good friend who's of almost-equal rank, Armor Fist. However, his damage by an unforeseen circumstance was slightly disappointing but not enough to matter and change course. I have to admit, Psi-Scythe's display in the hospital was unnecessary but we will rid of him in New Vegas. What else... Night Rain having Shadow in her grasp was excellent indeed. But it's unfortunate that we have to waste such a talented woman, we will rid of her in New Vegas also. As for Sky Eyes, I'm still contemplating his termination, he is far too aged for serving with us but still proves effective when needed, his blood-relations with Shadow's love partner was also unforeseen. As for Eggman... he seems to have his hands full at the moment, we will deal with him when the time comes."

"Spitzer I must ask you, I think you must consider this."

"That is?"

"What about (gulp) Agent 00? Agent 00 is the only member who is below The Goldeneye and is also the only one who takes direct orders from him."

"What have I told you many times over when you speak of Agent 00? He is probably dead, the only news of his whereabouts is he might be in Death Valley."

"But what if Goldeneye does not approve of Operation: Shadow Trace or its current direction?"

"What have I also told you about that? What will Goldeneye do, shoot me personally?"

"Goldeneye's a former agent Kugel."

"Of what exactly? And don't say you heard it from your colleagues again."

"Nevermind Kugel."

"Good, now prepare my transportation to New Vegas. I got some business that needs closure."


	37. Brotherly Strain

"Well Shadow, you sure look good with that tie on. It make you look cute!"

"Don't say cute ever again."

"Aw... did your honey use that word on you?"

"Just don't."

So here I am in the hotel room, getting ready with Reggie for the big party tonight. V.I.P. Passes, dressed properly, we're ready. Wait, something's going down on the news channel.

"Urgent News! A freight train hijacked earlier went full speed into what is known as Eggman's lair where it crashed at an estimated 75 MPH+ according to a distant milepost computer. The train carried various goods but none that were explosive or harmful. Here is the computer's voice recording..."

"(Alarm sounds) UP Detector Milepost 180.0. Total axle 138. Speed 77.8 MPH. Critical Alarm! Southbound. Excess speed! Repeat! Excess Speed! (Alarm sounds) UP Detector Milepost 180.0. Total Axle 138. Speed 83.7 MPH. Critical Alarm! Southbound. Excess Speed! Repeat! Excess Speed! (Alarm sounds)"

"Unfortunately that accident will cost the Union Pacific over 4 Million Dollars just for the train alone. Milepost computers cannot prevent theft but they do prevent mechanical malfunctions on railroad equipment. Here is Tina with the engineer of the train he operated before it was hijacked. Tina."

"Thank you, I'm here with the engineer who bravely faced the hijacker before he was tossed off of his own train. Here's the engineer now. Now what happened when you were idling out of the siding?"

"Well you wouldn't believe this, but a mutant attacked me."

"A Mutant?"

"Yes! He was a bit small but I was still no match for him. He flew from the bridge, flew!"

"He was capable of flight?"

"Yes! Yes! He came down from the overpass and landed right next to the cab's door. I came at him with a wrench but he kidney punched me before he threw me off. I would've got back on but the train took off too fast for me to catch up to the engine's ladder. I'm no spring chicken, I'm 40 fucking years old! I was no match for em'."

"Well sorry about your confrontation with this 'mutant' assailant you speak of, could you give a physical description?"

"Well... he was all black and had wings... that's all I could give you. Wish I had more."

"Thank you sir, I hope you recover from your injuries. Back to you."

(TV clicks off)

"Reggie... why did you do that? I was watching it."

"Because we have a party to attend to... you shouldn't watch TV."

"Ugh... Fine, let's get going."

As we leave the hotel, I just couldn't get that thought to go away. What that engineer said, was it really a mutant? I don't know... I cannot let that distract me because I got to focus on not letting Gris know anymore about Rouge. If he knows, I'm canned. Another thing bugs me, why didn't Reggie dress for the occasion?

"Because I don't mind how I dress, you on the other hand, should. Why? Because you have a professional position, I do not have one."

"Reggie..."

The hotel is naturally busy because of the party later tonight. People exiting their rooms, janitors and bell hops scurrying about the hallways and exchanging rooms. Reggie and me navigate the chaotic halls until we make it to the elevators which we enter one that was conveniently open for us. We walk inside it and a guy in black clothes and intensely darkened shades runs into the elevator right before the doors automatically close. The guy is obviously on something, he went from an absolutely blank expression to immense excitement. He turns his head fast enough to almost break his own neck and tells me a exaggeratedly lengthily and slow "Hi." I can see this guy has a bit of white powder under his nose, what a professional. A professional what? I don't want to comment. Reggie looks at the drugged up guy with noticeable disappointment, but she doesn't know the guy so I don't understand why she would be disappointed. I guess even she doesn't like where society is heading.

"Well Shad, I'm going to go take care of something. Why don't you have fun at the slots or something? We'll meet up later." Reggie tells me as she leaves the elevator along with that drugged-up guy, I watch her continue on her way with that guy walking in a similar direction she is as I exit the elevator and blindly bump into somebody who I never want to see again at a time like this."

"So you're Shadow, huh?" Gris scorns me as he towers over me slightly with his fists on the sides of his waistline. What does he want now and why is he even waiting for me like this? Did he finally piece everything together and know of my long-standing unresolved relationship with Rouge?

"Gris... I can explain..." I tell him so he might have enough sense to not wring me out.

"You don't have to explain..." Gris responds as he grows a smile. "I bet you were having so much fun at the slots you forgot about the party, I'm just here to remind you that it's about to start in less than 30 minutes."

"But Gris why..."

"I take work seriously so I rarely grin anyway. I asked you that way to see if I recalled your name right."

"Oh..."

"Less than thirty?"

"Less than thirty."

For some weird reason I thought Gris somehow pieced it together. I guess I got lucky, this is Vegas after all. I better hurry over to the party before the place gets packed.


	38. The Fun Must End For Us

On the New Vegas Strip, multiple flat black cars populate the busy street and head for the Starstorm Casino. As the cars roll into the reserved parking, one car that is slightly different from the others rolls into the 01 reserved space. An older gentleman bat dressed in his finest attire gets out of the driver side and shuffles over to the other side to open the door for his similarly aged wif

"Oh honey, you're sure dressed for the occasion." The wife says to her husband who puffs a Marlboro before heading in.

"Well, Devil's Sugar, you're not bad yourself." The husband responds lovingly to his spouse who gets stimulated by calling her code-speak name.

"Oh Sky Eyes, you know what to say, that's why I got close to you and had some kids." He continues on as his wife leans on him while he finishes his cigarette.

"And it was so beautiful when our babies who had babies and now our granddaughter is going to have one, I loved raising her."

"You know what I'm going to love Sugar?"

"What would that be my never-slowing love?"

"When I kick that fucking Shadow ass around like the pathetic bastard that he is, that and seeing my grand boy. I wonder what he'll think of Shadow?"

"At least you didn't tell our granddaughter that you knew him before she told you about him. I can't wait to hold my grrrrrrreat grand babies once our granddaughter pops them out."

"I think our family does need some more members but I bet the kids would not be good for me anymore, I'm just not the flexible bat I used to be."

"But I'll always love you no matter."

"Same here sweetie."

The older couple walk beside each other as they head into the casino. Meanwhile, Reggie is down on the street with Usen who is now doing fine despite the multiple medication he takes.

"So... Usen, what is going to happen to Shadow?" Reggie asks a freshly stable Usen, Usen thinks this is very surprising to hear out of Reggie.

"You really care about Shadow despite what you've done and who you are?"

"Well..."

"Say no more. I'll tell you what will happen if we succeed... now you better hear me out, I will not say it again."

"Okay."

"Now, listen carefully. What will happen is the grand plan that we know as 'Operation: Shadow Trace'. We take Rouge, his children, and friends as hostage, and we get Shadow to submit to us, and then we will maybe let them go if Shadow takes orders from us. With Shadow under our control, we will then use him to defeat Agent 00 and therefore takeout Goldeneye."

"But Agent 00..."

"That a goddamned lie Reggie... don't believe anything else other than that! I know where he is, in Death Valley. Fellow S.P.E.C.T.E.R. agents consider that no man's land because agents as well as anything for that matter disappears without a trace. If Agent 00 leaves Death Valley, this could only mean one thing... Goldeneye is aware of Shadow Trace which in-itself means we are going to be dealt with promptly!"

"But why..."

"Is Agent 00 in Death Valley? Death Valley is his home and personal training ground. Reggie... Agent 00 has numerous confirmed reports of 'non-human' capabilities. You have a better chance of cheating Death itself than escaping Agent 00. To imagine what Agent 00 is capable of, he defeated Armor Fist to where he needed a whole armor replacement, and Agent 00's height doesn't even break 6 ft.!"

"How do you know him."

"I almost died at the hands of him. I stressed out so hard after that I ended up with health problems including getting a stroke. And that is hot I got to be who I am now, a sad, hollow shell of what I once was. Reggie... I must warn you, I doubt even the likes of Sonic could ever counter Agent 00. If he can't rid of you while you are conscious, he'll deal with you when you are asleep or completely unaware of his presence."

Reggie stares at Usen's near-improbable speech, denying that there exists such a person. Reggie contemplates this possibility for quite sometime before responding.

"Well, we better head to the party then before something else happens like chucking yourself into the street."

"You better lead the way Reggie, I never was fit to lead anyway."

After such a lengthy talk, Usen and Reggie head to the party which is only five minutes away from starting. Meanwhile, Shadow and Gris shoot the breeze at the bar. Shadow isn't drinking anything yet, but Gris is taking on a 40 ounce bottle of Mickey's Malt Liquor. They both talk about what has happened in the past whenever while The Buggles are playing their music on stage as they are the opening band for Huey Lewis And The News.

"Okay, we'll play one last song before we get off here." Trevor Horn, the lead singer for the band known as The Buggles,"This song is an underrated piece of ours but we want to play for you all before we head on our way. This song is called, 'Living In The Plastic Age'."

Shadow and Gris lean back on the bar while The Buggles play their song. The stage, as well as the whole place becomes lit with pastel colors and laser lights. All of the lighting effects are extremely seizure inducing and people who have epilepsy are in grave danger right now. Gris finishes up his 40 and gets up and starts dancing to the music. Only if Shadow didn't have to tell him and ruin a great moment.


	39. Bloodied History

In 3945, the Germanic Empire had control over most of the western half of the eastern hemisphere. The Northern Order was the only nation able to take on the Empire, having total control over the eastern half of the hemisphere. The Northern Order however, was just as bent for conquest as the Germanic Empire. For two decades before 3945, the two superpowers had plenty other nations to seize and therefore wasn't down to just the two. After a series of disagreements between the Northern Order and the Germanic Empire, the two had enough, they went to war with each other. The Germanic Empire struck first with waves of tanks, artillery, and soldiers driving hard to Northern borders. The Northern Order realized what is going on and responded with stolen nuclear technology, turning cities into paved plains and life into irradiated dust. The horrendous fighting continued for almost 15 years, casualties escalated in the hundred millions. The only known way the fighting stopped was by resources quickly drying up, which followed with the armies of their respective nations turning against their leaders. Two military leaders got together, one from the Germanic Empire and the other from The Northern Order. The two leaders were clad in combat armor to compensate what flesh and limbs they lost in the lengthy fighting. They both made amends and soon had their forces head for one place that was existent in both of their nations, the capitals.

The Northern Order's capital soon became populate with tanks which were heading for the capital building, the tanks lined up in front of the building where they reduced it into a pile of burning ruble and whoever ran out of the building were executed indiscriminately with the machine guns mounted on the very tanks the government had ordered to build and fight with. The Germanic Empire went with a less violent alternative, numerous soldiers entered their capital and shot anybody on sight inside. It was official, the Last Great War Of The 4th Millennium was over. The Germanic Empire disappeared and a new government formed in the land mass that was originally the Germanic Empire and now is known as the German Demographic Body. The populace of the former Northern Order however, went an entirely different route that in modern times is completely unheard of. The whole mass that was the Northern Order not only shrank down to its original borders but no central government exists. Instead of a central government, the populace went down to a massive series of city-states who often rely upon bartering and trading instead of currency. However, a small base somewhere in the frigid Severnaya Zemlya still wavers the Norther Order banner, or an altered version.

The people of the western hemisphere then realized the horrific extent that could happen if there isn't a way of properly defusing conflict between nations and so G.U.N. formed as an answer to such a problem. Ever since then, there hasn't been large-scale armed conflicts for the rest of the 4th millennium. As the 5th millennium rolls in, new problems come in also. As of recent news, an unidentified formation known as the Northern Revised Order which is oftentimes shortened to N.R.O. for those to speak of it, has seized Chun-Nan and now has that nation and its populace under possession. Back in the western hemisphere, corporate issues and an underground organization plague the nations there with complex problems and long-standing and complicated conflicts shift up front. The peace can last, but only for so long.


	40. The Forseer & The Shadow Dancer

The genetic monster has commenced its series of mating cycles with the flying mammal as I saw in my vision. Within a decade, they will give life to their sixth child, who will be of a sickly disposition. Weak resistance to illness, frail body, but within such a strength-less body lies within something of great importance. Unfortunately for the defenseless child, she will have to have her meager life ended for me to obtain the object within her body. But her life has to be taken from her, it is of unavoidable circumstance.

"Alan, your prophecy is coming true! They are about to have the first two children!"

"I know I'm correct, Nira, my beautiful wife. You know Nira, I had you made immortal because you mean so much to me. But the only cost was that you became a vampire, but even with that, you will be beside me for all time. Now to convince the royal blood to grant me diplomatic immunity."

"Are you sure the princess of Eagleland will allow at least a majority vote on your request?"

"I know it as a fact Nira. I have always stood by her guard ever since she was born."

"You know the future like you know your hand, is there a request you need assistance with?"

"Actually... yes Nira... watch the flying mammal for me."

"You have granted my immortality, Alan. I'm forever in your debt."

"Actually Nira, you taught me to love. I actually paid my debt to you. You could run away and it wouldn't bother me, but I know you love me as equally as I do you."

"Alan... why must the child die? Couldn't she be granted the immortality you granted me?"

"Very good question Nira... that request will not be possible once I remove the object from her and she'll die... I don't want to do this to her... but I must... there is a great crisis coming... and only me with the help of the object AND the jewels only then I can counter it."

"'I wish that didn't have to happen Alan... but you know what will happen in the future better than I do."

I know it will happen unfortunately... the child possesses great skill despite her terrible health. That fact does not help comfort the impact for me.

"Nira... I have also have a request of great importance... please... test out who surround and attempt to protect the flying mammal. Please don't kill them... not yet... we won't kill or harm any of them until a decade passes."

"I will test them for you, Alan. But I will be gentle, they fold like paper."

"I'm serious Nira, despite my youthfulness, I've aged in a way that isn't physically definable. Please, no unnecessary damage to them."

"I'll keep my word Alan, as you always have."

"Good, now go see them. Please do not overtly hurt them Nira."


	41. 50,000 Special

"Amy! Help me!" Sonic cries out as he dangles from a catwalk inside a crumbling nuclear reactor, "I'm losing my grip Amy! Help me!"

"Sonic grab my hand! Hurry!" Amy shouts over the sound of a symphony of alarms at Sonic which he doesn't hesitate to grasp the pink hedgehogs hand for help. Amy does her best to pull Sonic up, but the wrecked armor that encases Sonic makes him heavier than normal. But Amy sums up all of her might and successful pulls Sonic back up on the catwalk.

"Amy..." Sonic softly says as his eyes tear up as Amy looks into his eyes through the shattered lens, "I'm sorry..."

"There's no time no Sonic! We must leave before the place explodes!" Amy says as she shoulders a very beat Sonic off of the catwalk.

"You think you can rid of me you spiny abominations!?" A metal and flesh figure blocks Amy and Sonic's exit as the figure looks at Amy and Sonic with one eye that illuminates with a teal color that pierces the debris and the red lights of the alarms, his other eye has a 1/2" pipe that penetrates through his head through the right eye. "I've waited to rid of you fuckers for an inexplicable amount of time... NGH!" The figure grunts with a metallic voice as he pulls the pipe out of his head which reveals the physical extent of the damage caused to his head. "But I will never let you two walk out of here alive, I will make sure of it!" The figure raises the pipe he pulled out of his head and strikes Amy and Sonic from the left, sending the two crashing into a wall. The pipe cut Sonic in the hip which the broken armor didn't protect that spot.

"Now stay there while I deal with your pink cohort," The mechanized figure speaks as he throws down the pipe and grabs Amy by the neck.

"You've held me back for a very long time you wretched brat! But taking care of you will make up for all the lost time you've caused!" The metal monstrosity says as a mixture of blood and hydraulic fluid ooze out of his eyes and from between his teeth. The mechanized enemy clenches his heavily damaged hand and pulls back his arm, readying himself to throw a swift blow to Amy's face. As it's defleshed fist nears Amy's face, the reactor melts down and a series of atomic explosions followed with a huge radioactive blast reduces everything to a smoking basin with a pile of glowing red-hot material in the center.

"Wha..." Amy mutters as she awakes in an empty hospital waiting room with only a janitor and a receptionist occupying the room, she looks about the room for Tails or Rouge, but nobody she was with earlier was around.

"I see you're awake. Miles went outside to make a phone call." The receptionist tells Amy while she finishes filing some last-minute paperwork. Amy gives the receptionist a 'thank you' as Amy stands up and heads to the door to look for Tails. Without any warning, the auto-doors slide open, Tails flies into Amy and crashes into her. Amy looks over Tails and sees a black, animated, bat-like silhouette standing a ways away from the door, "See yoooooou..." it hisses and points at Amy as it vanishes in a black fog that sweeps its entire existence away. Amy checks on Tails who got bruised and battered up, Amy thinks for a minute and suspects that what she just seen may have something to do with the attack on Tails.

"Amy... thanks..." Tails speaks to Amy as he regains consciousness.

"Who did this to you!?" Amy asks Tails as the receptionist and the janitor catch on to what's happened to Tails.

"I... don't know Amy, all I know is my phone lost reception and a black fog rolled in. The black fog smothered me, sucked me in, and before I knew what had happened, I was transported into a rave club with no people inside and no music playing. I investigated and looked about but I knew something wasn't right despite the unsuspecting appearance of the place. I continued to walk about the abandoned place until a figure emerged through a wall. The figure became more defined and detailed, taking an appearance of a bat with black fur with fangs and the pupils in the eyes disappeared and reappeared as if the pupils themselves were just an illusion that took too much energy to keep up the pupils' existence. It stood up right in front of me and told me, "Hello, I am Nira." According to the sound of its voice, it must be a girl. She held out her hand for me to shake, I took her hand to complete the handshake but she grips my hand tightly as she instantaneously punches me in the face for it. She made blood come out of my nose which she covered her free hand with and painted her fangs and mouth with my blood. She orgasms as she gets a good serving of my red body fluids, "You may not be physically fit, but your humor is very delicious." She said to complement the flavor of my blood, "I may spare you, but I'll still have my fun with you." Amy, I don't think can go on any further than what I've already said. Amy... please... we need Sonic, Shadow, both of them now and more than ever!"

After taking in Tails' long winded story of which he couldn't complete his retelling, Amy thinks to herself this one line, "There isn't an ultimate lifeform when you need one."

Meanwhile in the operating room, Rouge is having complications with getting the babies out of her body. The medical staff faces a dilemma and time isn't being favorable for them. Heath monitors populate the room and numerous sensors dot Rouge's very expanded abdomen.

"What would be the most appropriate course of action?" One of the nurses asks the doctor.

"Still in decision about that, the patient's body cannot muster the strength to push the babies out. Notify any of the patient's relatives and/or her mate if possible." The doctor answers and he decides what to do about Rouge.

"Okay, I'll contact the receptionist to notify them." The nurse replies as he rushes over to the receptionist to give her that order.

"I'll do my best to contact them." The receptionist says as she searches through the medical records on her computer. The receptionist soon finds a small entry of information on one of Rouge's relatives.

"Gris huh." The receptionist says to herself as she punches in the number on her desk phone and places the headset on her head. Completely ignorant of what is about to happen between Gris and Shadow. 100 or so miles away in New Vegas, Shadow and Gris are enjoying drinks at the party as they talk about what they do in their lives.

"So you stole billions just to please your parents Gris?" Shadow disbelievingly asks Gris while fancying a drink himself.

"Yep, I have no regrets and I would do it all again because they're family." Gris answers under the malt liquor's influence that he carelessly chooses to drink.

"What do you think of Huey Lewis Gris?"

"They're a good act indeed, but everybody has to do a little selling out to get their name out. Here hang on Shadow, I'll continue this convo in a minute. Somebody's calling me." Gris tells Shadow as he pulls the phone out of his pants pocket and places it next to his large bat ears, "Hello... yes this is Gris... bat? Yes I am... Shadow... Hedgehog? Yes he here in front of me, may I know what this is about? What do you mean my sister!? Sha-Shadow!? Yes... I'll hand the phone over to him."

"Hello?" Shadow shyly speaks into the phone that Gris hands over to him.

"Hello Shadow... Hedgehog. This is the nurse of the Central City hospital calling to notify you about your partner's medical emergency."

"Is she okay?"

"There is no absolute answer Shadow, your partner's condition appears stable but she may not make it because her abdomen has grown too big for her body to push the unborn babies out properly. We're still determining the proper course of action to take. A c-section is possible but the patient has too high of a risk of injury or death due to how large the cut would be to get the babies out."

"I don't know what..."

"Since I am the receptionist, I strongly recommend you to support your wife in person."

"Okay... thank you for calling... goodbye."

"So... Shadow... you didn't tell me... out of the two fucking days I've talked to you!?" Gris roars at Shadow with anger contaminating his sauced mind while he violently finishes another 40 oz. and reduces the glass bottle to fine powder in one hand and snatches his phone back from Shadow with the other.

"Gris... calm down... I can explain this, we're both reasonable men here." Shadow nervously responds to Gris' terrific display of teeth-gritting rage as Gris readies a bar stool to bash Shadow senseless with.

"Oh... we're reasonable alright..." Gris replies as he draws himself nearer to Shadow, gripping one leg on the bar stool like a batter grips a baseball bat, "We're going to reason when I break your leg and then hand deliver you to my sister who apparently YOU fucked and then ran like a bitch! And if MY sister dies, I'm going to finish the job by finishing YOU you fucking-fuck-fuck-fuck-fucker!" With intense strength, Gris swings at Shadow with the bar stool which explodes into splinters on contact on the front of the bar due to Shadow narrowly dodging Gris' blazing swing. Gris readies himself another bar stool to try to hit Shadow with it again.

"I really don't want to do this, but you've left me with no choice." Shadow warns the intoxicated Gris before tackling him to the floor, starting a bar brawl between the two. Meanwhile, Reggie & Usen sit together at a table along with Rouge's grandparents with the group completely unaware of the bar fight unfolding.

"Well, what is the plan Sky Eyes? You old antique." Reggie quips at Rouge's grandpa as she finishes a sharp glass of White Lightning.

"Well it's obvious you have Shadow under your control. And with Shadow leashed up, we can use him to wipe out Agent00 and get to Goldeneye." Rouge's grandpa answers as he looks about the place for anything suspicious. Soon, a guard stops by Reggie and Usen and checks on the group.

"Is everybody enjoying the show?" The guard asks as he starts to stare down Rouge's grandpa, then he gains a bewildered look on his face.

"Hey Loid!" How ya doin'?" Rouge's grandpa nervously asks the guard as he knows who the guard is but completely confused on how he even lived because Loid's supposed to be dead.

"Wight! You bitch!" The guard snaps as he pulls out his handgun and shoots Rouge's grandpa in the chest five times and once in his neck before he turns to Usen who is in utter shock about what just happened. "You're in this too!? Fuck You!" The flipped out guard then proceeds to shoot the two remaining bullets into Usen's collarbone and shoulder. The guard maniacally laughs as he jumps on the table and starts fleeing by table hopping. Rouge's grandma looks down at her shot husband before shooting at the homicidal guard with a .45 colt revolver she kept in her handbag. Most of the shots miss because of her aging sight, but she placed one shot on the guard's hip and another in his thigh which doesn't seem to affect him or even slow him down. "You can't takedown Mr. Crack!" The guard shouts over the chaos. Reggie looks around for Shadow but she notices Shadow's in a fight of his own.

"Gris! I don't want to hurt you!" Shadow yells at the furious Gris who he has pinned down to save himself from Gris growing drunken anger.

"You already did you fucking wad of pubes! Why Shadow!? Why!" Gris roars as he repetitively attempts to get back up, but Shadow keeps slamming him back down in order to end the fight. While the ruining of the party continues, Ben is forcing his way through the back of the casino with automatic rifle in hand. Invitation or no invitation, Ben is still going to attend and give a certain someone his present.

"You should stop fighting me, go home to your families!" Ben howls over his own gun fire as he tears his way in further one guard at a time. Loid who's still stoked up on drugs runs through the gunfire, firing back at anything that is made of meat until he sees Ben. Loid instantly stands straight up like if he was in the armed forces.

"Master Sergeant Ben! Corporal Loid reporting!" Loid says as if he still takes orders from Ben.

"Corporal Loid, what the fuck are you doing!?" Ben shouts at him in disbelief that Loid is even still alive. Ben thought he O.D.'d on drugs ages ago.

"I shot Col Wight and I'm retreating sir! I did it!"

"What is your malfunction!? Were you given permission to kill him!?"

"I acted out on my own, sir. I also shot Sgt. Mark!"

"You fucking dumbass, numbnuts, drug addicted, asshole... well done!" Ben answers Loid as he still doesn't believe he even was capable of doing anything close to that. "But we have one more to eliminate."

"Who would that be sir?"

"Shadow the Hedgehog."

"I just talked to him before shooting Col. Wight and Sgt. Mark, sir. He's at the party."

"Lead me to him now Corporal!"

"Sir, Yes Sir!"

And with Ben and a drugged up Loid continue to the party. Yuri and Brutus are walking on the side of the tracks again, both pretty beat from their conflict on the train earlier.

"What happend to people from helicopter? Who was people?" Brutus asks Yuri who is growing weak from pushing herself too hard for the last few days.

"I... uh... don't know Brutus. Mind if you... give me a ride?" Yuri answers as she slumps to the ground and submits to her exhaustion.

"Okay." Brutus picks her up and places her around the back half of his neck like a necklace.

"Thank you." Yuri positions herself on the back of his neck where it's comfortable for her. "I don't know why Brutus, but I got a feel. A feel like Ben's in some bad juju."

"What is 'juju'" Brutus asks as he doesn't know the meaning of 'juju'.

"I think Ben's in some serious danger, he seems to have an invisible imp named 'Juju' who is very bad and likes to play tricks on everybody and cheat them out of everything they have." Yuri answers with something she made up on the fly.

"Is Juju following me?" Brutus asks worryingly.

"He follows everyone Brutus, even the Almighty."

"Almighty, what's he like?"

"The Almighty is the guy who made everything Brutus, and his job is to make sure everybody is okay. While Juju's job is to work against the Almighty and try to beat him." Yuri proceeds to flatter Brutus with stuff she makes up in order to explain to Brutus how messed up the world is. "The Almighty and Juju continue to fight each other while we run or walk. Neither one takes a vacation Brutus, they're in a constant battle which has no end."

"The Almighty must work hard to fix, huh?"

"And Juju works even more to destroy. Well Brutus, I need to sleep. Please keep walking until you see the next city."

And as the sun sets while Yuri and Brutus continue on their way to the next city, Yuri drifts into dreamland and tempoarily escapes from the stresses of fleeing. Brutus forges on and on through the night for the only friend he'll possibly ever have, Yuri.

(A/N: Thanks everyone, you've helped me keep going and it's been a blast telling you this story! But the story's nearing the end. So if you're interested, tell me your favorite chapter(s) or moment(s) and what makes this story make you put it in your favorites. Thanks for reading, see you very soon! And have a great day!)


	42. AG3NT00

AG3NT00 - Armored Gauntlet 3: Neural Terminator 00

MFG. DATE: 6-6-96

Booting chasis input components...COMPLETE

Initiating active sensory array...COMPLETE

Powering On...COMPLETE

Finalizing Acitvation Procedure...COMPLETE

Ugh... I awaken... once again... I feel like I'm dead... but alive. Is it because of this metal body that has replaced my destroyed organic original? I know it is near impossible for me to die in this metal frame, but am I already dead? My hands replicate the sense of touch despite their metallic surface, but they are not the originals I had once upon a time.

URGENT MESSAGE: RE: GOLDENEYE ORDER

Goldeneye sent my computer system a message? I'll read it now...

Agent 00:

I have an urgent mission for you, too many agents are plotting aganst you and me. Remind them that we ARE amongst the living and we do not take deviation from the heirarchy seriously. Use lethal force if necessary. Here is a list to help you.

Psi-Scythe

Night Rain

Sky Eyes

Devil's Sugar

If Shadow the Hedgehog has already been persuaded by any of them, terminate if you decide it is fitting to do so. Also, you must go to the ARK and collect a file for me, it is utmost importance you complete these objectives. And remember...

You are made of metal, your circuts gleam, you are perpetual, you keep this country clean. Erase anything at your will, my electric eyed enforcer.

-Goldeneye

Incompetence... it must be destroyed. I must do my duty and return as the ultimate enforcer of the law that is my own. No government or organization other than my own has the power to stop me. That robot I shot out of the sky... it was carrying the android I shot a month ago. It can mean only one thng... I must make my return and eliminate whoever I see fit. Those robots... Miles Prower must know something about them. I have had contact with him before... he is a good fox even with his genetic mutation... he is reliable and is the only one I've revealed my former identity to. But he remains ignorant of my current one... it's best that this ignorance is maintained or he must also be wiped clean.

I remember a dream... but it wasn't a dream at all... me in my original flesh... going speeds exceeding 600 Km/h... my police bike, extension of my body... special bike... GSXR-1800-PI... took 160 km/h rated curve... my flesh and bike... wreckage... destroyed... engine was only good part... new body for my mind... with new body, built perfect new bike... rebuilt engine into perfect engine... the new bike... GSXR-1900-II... I go near bike... I must back away... never tested perfect bike... I look at bike... would shead tears if my new body had tearducts... each day, get one step closer to perfect bike... record closest, make hand contact to handlebar... today... I must ride perfect bike. My helmet is required to use the bike, the helmet is a specific helmet required to operate the bike. The helmet is equal to a physical key, but the bike still requires a physical key to function. Like me, the bike thinks on its own and knows individual people. It also has five senses like me, but cannot drive itself. I get on the seat with my helmet installed on my head, the bike is surprised to feel me on it... yes, bike is feminine.

"You've regained your courage to ride me? Even though your hands are forged of metal, they tremble like flesh. Are you afraid of my capabilities?"

"No... Ninya... it's been too long... it's time we do what we do best..."

"Oh... go fast and enforce the rules? My owner must be courageous. Has separation made you lose your edge?"

"No... I'm a little rusty since we been apart too long..."

"You're such a kid, want a... refresher?"

"Please..."

"Where are we going to owner?"

"To the Starstorm New Vegas. We got to finish some things."

"I'm calculating the most efficient route for you, get to the pavement."

For so long, I've been out here in Death Valley fine tuning my mechanized body and parts. The S.S.&O. power plant works optimally, I'm very impressed by its output for such a simple design. I've zeroed in my built-in weapons, I'm ready to return to service. Think you can get rid of me Mark Patrone? You have failed, but I will not. Even with your forged identity that is Usen Amiatttt, you will not escape me. My flesh may be gone, but you and your friend will be completely erased.


	43. First Come, First Serve

"We have arrived at McCarran International Airport Sir."

"Excellent, now let's go meet Kugel."

While the G.U.N. commander make his exit off of his private jet, Kugel enters the airport with four S.P.E.C. agents who are all armed with brand new rifles and light armored, combat outfits that have been recently purchased from dataDyne Corp. Kugel orders all but one of the agents to disperse to the exit/entry points of the airport while only one agent walks beside him. Kugel waits for the G.U.N. Commander at the airport's lounge and orders himself some unsweetened, no sugar, no cream, straight and black coffee. The G.U.N. Commander makes his exit from the terminal and walks to the lounge where Kugel is. The first thing that catches the G.U.N. Commander's eye is not Kugel, but his accompanying guard with the new jet black combat outfit and brand new shining rifle which causes suspicion in the Commander's mind.

"I see S.P.E.C. got better funding." The G.U.N. Commander says as he takes a seat at the same table as Kugel.

"Actually no, those new things are donations from dataDyne Corp." Kugel gloats as he smirks and leans back in his chair while The Commander's cronies show up to his side. "They're testing new technology and we stepped up to the plate first. I believe you're familiar with the term 'first come, first serve' Mr. Commander." Kugel adds on.

"That better be the case Kugel," The Commander replies as he takes the cup of coffee that the waitress hands to him. "and S.P.E.C.T.E.R. better be disbanded Kugel. You know what will happen if that is not the case. Now where is that file Kugel?"

"You know treason is a subject I don't have any interest in Commander," Kugel answers as his takes off his black jacket, black leather gloves, and a black pair of Ray-Bans with dark green lenses; revealing his mechanical right arm and his electronic eye that glows with its polished emerald iris. "You think I would betray my nation that I have lost my eye and right arm for?"

"You better not Kugel." The Commander says as he takes the file from Kugel as promised. "Our nation has enough incompetence as it is now. Good day Kugel, our business is finished. I must now make my exit and take care of business."

"Oh... one more thing Commander."

"What it is Kugel?"

"Wish agent Rouge's newborns well for me, and good luck with Shadow." Kugel says as he snaps his fingers and finishes his coffee.

"I will." The Commander responds as he leaves the airport with his cronies, The Commander notices one S.P.E.C. agent waiting next to the glass exit doors. The S.P.E.C. agent salutes him before running off to the lounge where Kugel is.

"There's much, much more than Kugel lets on." The Commander says to one of his cronies.

"What makes you say that?" One of them asks as he gets the executive limousine door open for The Commander.

"Kugel is a man who acts honestly, but he is everything but. There is a reason I'm the Commander and he's not, but I have a feeling my position will be challenged and Kugel out of all the billions that populate Earth would be the first to step up to the plate. First come, first serve."


	44. The Mirror Man DC

Why is it that I think the world is falling apart? I don't know, all I know is it seems like the sky is falling...

Woah! Shit! What the hell was that!? I better check that out, now where's my rifle? Here we are, there is no such thing as too careful out here in Death Valley. First, Chun-Nan gets taken over. And now shit is falling from the sky? I bet it's a satellite or something. Oh... my... it's a couple of fucking robots! Watch the next thing I find is a fucking meteor, better get these things put up before the M.I.B., G.U.N., or the Specs show up. I can't believe it, legitimate robots... from the sky. My god these things are a spine breaker if one's not careful. Ugh... ngh... ah, there we go. That wasn't very good to muscle those busted robots into the back of my station wagon, I'd think I'm due for a chiropractor visit after all the heavy things I had to muscle by myself. Anyhow, I'd better haul ass out of here before I get found out.

The nice part about Death Valley is that it's very flat and I can pound the throttle to the metal without punishment out here, I better make great use of that advantage. Come on station wagon, is 140 M.P.H. all you can do!? Oh wait, I'm burying the needle on this thing, so I don't know how fast I'm going! If I blow a tire now and at this speed, I'm a dead fucker! Oh man, I'd better slow down before I lose control in this T-section. Shit, the car really leaned into that turn! Shouldn't hit that turn so fast. Come on Nevada state border... yes! Made it to Nevada... Wooooooo hoooooo! Now to make the couple of miles to the hideout.

There we are, made it to the shop. Now where did I put that fucking clicker? Here it is, open sesame seeds you metal door. Alright, zip the car in here and shut he door behind me... and we're safe. Now let's get a closer look at those robots... I better use the lift to get them out instead of murdering my spine even more.

_BUZZ...BUZZ..._

_BUZZ...BUZZ..._

"Hello?"

"Hey D.C., what cha up to?"

"Um... not much. Just another day to wake up and do things. How about yourself?"

"You know, trying to find someone so I can give him something to go by."

"You're going to attend New Vegas aren't you? Dammit man, you know you're entering a path you cannot return from."

"I do what I think is just, if it's going to be a bad path, then so be it. Well good luck with that and be sure you're properly prepared."

"Will do, see ya around."

_CLICK_

That guy is going to a bad situation, he should stay away from doing things like killing people. Anyhow, let's get those bots to the welding bench and a desk. Ngh... fuck... what do they make this shit out of, concrete? Ugh, there, got them there. Now to get some cola to compensate for my insomnia and get a closer look. Alright... fucking hell, I forgot to get another 36 pack, fucking-fuck-fuck-fuck! C'mon Marlboro, give me some Nicotine.

_...clink..._

What!? Ugh... fucking insomnia, bad for my health. And with these packs of Marlboro cigarettes, I'm making a shit-sandwich of bad health. Cool is a rule, but sometimes bad is bad. Hm... that black one, it looks like that one I hit with my car and used it as target practice long ago. Hm... maybe... just maybe. Fuck it, I'm too jittery to focus on something, I need some time outside. You know, I think I'll go drive another car besides the wagon. Let's see, I think I'll test drive that car I'm making for that homicidal bad man who I consider a friend. It's missing the hood and fenders but as long as it has lights and registration it's fine for the road. I think a nice lap around town should relieve some of that built up energy.

Alright, belts... keys... start the car... let's get going. Wow, this car rides pretty damn nice, especially at 120! Shit! What the fuck? That bike wasn't a bullet bike at all, it was going faster than one! I wonder if I can find that son of a bitch. Woooooooo, putting the hammer down has never felt so good for seeing something faster than me for once. I may have some competition out here in the middle of nowhere.


	45. Punching Holes

"What are we going to do?" Reggie asks Rouge's grandma as she cradles Rouge's grandpa, Wight.

"Get Shadow out of here!" Rouge's grandma shouts at Reggie over the expanding chaos before shifting to Usen, "And YOU Usen, YOU'RE going to help me save Sky Eyes! And that's an order YOU DIRT BAG!"

"Uh... y-yes Devil's Sugar!" Usen answers nervously as he knows that his own gunshot wounds don't matter in this situation.

"Honey, can you tell those (gasp) fuckers to (gasp) keep it dowwwwn?" Wight asks his wife as he fights for his life with all of his dying might.

"Don't worry dear! We'll get you to a hospital!" Rouge's grandma tells her husband, Wight as she and Usen pick Wight up and head for the exit.

"Shadow, where are you?" Reggie thinks to herself before spotting Shadow fighting Gris at the bar.

"Gris! I don't want to hurt you!" Shadow yells at the furious Gris who he has pinned down to save himself from Gris growing drunken anger.

"You already did you fucking wad of pubes! Why Shadow!? Why!" Gris roars as he repetitively attempts to get back up, but Shadow keeps slamming him back down to end the fight. Reggie fights through the people fleeing the scene to get Shadow.

"Shadow! We need to get out of here!" Reggie says as Shadow and Gris look over at her.

"You're a cheater too!?" Gris roars as he rips Shadow off and drives him into the bar top. "I'll get you for this!" Gris readies a handgun to blast Shadow with but Reggie pulls out her Desert Eagle pistol on Gris.

"Put it down now! I'll blow your arm off!" Reggie warns Gris with his shoulders in her sights.

"I don't care bitch!" Gris responds as he shoots Reggie in her collar-bone which throws Reggie's aim off and makes her blast Gris in the lower leg instead. Reggie regains her aim as she pops Gris in his shoulder and in his collar-bone. Reggie walks up to the downed Gris and points her gun at his head.

"C'mon you bitch! I can take you on!" Gris grunts in pain as he makes a vain attempt to get up but fails due to his extensive injuries.

"Reggie! Don't!" Shadow says as he tackles Reggie to the floor, saving Gris from a headshot. Gris looks over at the two absolutely confused.

"He shot me in the collar-bone!" Reggie explains to Shadow as she wants to get back up and take care of Gris.

"Don't kill him Reggie!" Shadow hastily begs Reggie as Gris continues to get up but fails with every attempt he makes, "He's very confused, I haven't been able to properly explain everything to him yet!"

"Oh... I'm the confused one!?" Gris shouts over at Shadow with anger and pain, "Why do I still want to kick your fucking ass then!?"

"Reggie, please, ignore him." Shadow grasps Reggie where all she sees is him.

"Rain." Reggie says softly as she sheds a few tears.

"Rain?" Shadow asks completely mystified as to what she meant by 'Rain'.

"Nevermind... (sniff)" Reggie replies as she gets serious again, "Shadow, we must leave, the cops are coming and you should get out of here if you want to see Rouge."

"Okay." Shadow says as he and Reggie get back up and leave.

"What about me you fucking cheater!? I'm not done with you!" Gris roars out at Shadow.

"We'll have to continue this later Gris, it's nice meeting you!" Shadow says as he makes his exit with Reggie.

"Get back here you son of a bitch! I'm not done!" Gris continues as he gets left beside the bar. While Shadow and Reggie make their exit to the main floor, Ben and Loid are on the main floor blasting any guard or police officer in sight so they can get to Shadow.

"Corporal! Do you see Shadow?" Ben asks Loid who's been shot numerous times but doesn't even know it because of the drugs he is under the influence of.

"Sir, over there Sir!" Loid says as he points to where Shadow is before finally slumping to the floor from being shot hundreds of time from the multitudes of times that he did not take cover.

"What is wrong Corporal?" Ben asks right before noticing the numerous gunshots that Loid has sustained for Ben.

"I'm dying Sir! I shielded you from all the (cough) gunfire Sir! It's been a pleasure serving (cough cough) you Sir" Loid says as he realizes he is being permanently being relieved from life.

"You are the best Corporal a Sergeant could ask for Corporal Loid. I'll never forget that soldier." Ben says as he gives Loid a manly hug as a farewell.

"Final (cough) orders... Sir!?" Loid asks as Ben tears up at the thought of Loid dying simply because of his loyalty to him. Ben notices Loid's dog tags have fallen out of Loid's pocket and takes them and puts them in his pocket as a memento of Loid.

"Loid, fight them bastards with all your might, don't give in an inch until you (sniff) die boy!" Ben says as he sadly takes away Loid's empty TT pistol and gives him a police pistol with some ammunition.

"Yessssssss Ssssssir." Loid says as he rolls over and shoots blindly at anything that moves. Ben runs after the fleeing Shadow and Reggie with his AR-10 at his hip, shooting and running much more aggressively because of the loss of Loid.

"Shadowwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Ben howls out in intense feral anger as he sprints and shoots at Shadow and Reggie without aiming. Shadow and Reggie hurry as they move over to the parking garage while the sirens from the New Vegas Police cars begin to populate the air. Meanwhile, Rouge's grandma and Usen hustle over to Wight's car so Rouge's grandpa can make it to the hospital.

"Good job, Usen. Thank you, now leave this place now!" Rouge's grandma says as she starts the car and speeds out of the parking facility with her bleeding husband in the passenger seat. Usen runs to his car but he hears a familiar voice that stops him cold in his tracks.

"Mark Patrone." The synthesizer-produced voice behind him says, clearly spelling out its digitized presence.

"Agent 00." Usen responds before tunring around to shoot Agent 00 in the chest, which Agent 00's new body stops the bullet dead.

"Fuck." Usen says for his last word.

"Nice try." Agent 00 replies before ejecting a barrel out of the palm of his mechanized hand and proceeds to shoot Usen with his new internally arm mounted automatic weapon. Usen falls down dead as Agent 00 says, "I win."

Unknown to the events up on the top floor, Shadow and Reggie make it to the tour bus at the ground level. The security had the bikes pulled out and parked next to the bus before the show. Shadow and Reggie mount themselves on their bikes and speed out of there, almost striking Ben with the bikes. Ben opens fire at Shadow and Reggie and one round strikes Reggie on the side of her abdomen, but Shadow and Reggie manage to evade Ben once again. Ben realizing that he is in a bad place as police block the exit with their cars. Ben hides underneath one of the parked cars and remains motionless. As things get very quiet in the parking garage, Ben hears a supercharged motorcycle descending down to the ground floor. Ben gets a visual of the motorcycle as it stops and shuts off at the bottom of the ramp. The rider props the bike on the kickstand and gets off the bike slowly. The rider then walks down to the exit the police are blocking and stops in front of the car Ben is hiding under. The police spot the rider and shoot at the rider with all guns blazing. The rider stands there and takes every single shot. The police soon stop firing after five minutes and the rider raises his left arm and says, "I come in peace." before his left arm transforms into some type of cannon and fires at the blocked exit. The blocade explodes violently as the cars turn into shrapnel which causes a number of casualties for the New Vegas Police and obviously clearing a path for escape. With the path cleared the mechanized rider turns to the car Ben's hiding under and stands there for one minute before walking back to his bike and reverts his arm back to normal before starting the bike and exiting the garage at full speed. Ben stays underneath that car and contemplates his next move.


	46. Not Of This Earth

Shadow and Reggie high-tail it out of New Vegas on their motorcycles and hit the highway at full speed. Shadow doesn't have an idea where they should head next but Reggie's shot in her stomach from Ben is beginning to bleed worse now that it has time to grow from lack of medical attention. Even with Reggie's PSI powers, she cannot heal herself or stop the bleeding completely. Shadow doesn't realize that Reggie persists to ride beside him even though she should seek medical attention. However, Shadow and Reggie continue to ride to the next city and stop at a stoplight. Shadow glances over at Reggie and realizes that the side of Reggie's bike and her left hand is painted with her blood which continues to drip out from her stomach on the gas tank.

"Reggie..." Shadow says as the light turns green.

"So?" Reggie replies as she slowly gets on the gas and clutch because of her waning strength.

"I don't care what you think, but you need medical attention."

"I... don't care... at all... you must... be... with who you... love..."

"Reggie..." Shadow responds as he couldn't believe he heard the 'L' word from Reggie's mouth, "you need a hospital. I think your blood loss is making you say weird things."

"Shadow... I'll only... say this... once... I... don't... need... shit... if it is... anybody that... needs anything... is... your... spouse... Rouge..."

"Okay, but as soon as I get there, you're getting help too."

Shadow and Reggie continue down the road until a hospital catches Shadow's eye.

"Central City Medical Center." Shadow says as he reads the lighted sign aloud. Shadow and Reggie roll their bikes in front of the glass sliding doors. Shadow gets off his bike but Reggie stays on her's.

"The bike's keeping me upright." Reggie says while Shadow gets inside the hospital where he runs into Amy Rose and a bruised Tails. Amy Rose hugs Shadow happily as she hasn't seen him in a little while.

"Where have you been!? We really need you." Amy asks Shadow as she gets off of Shadow.

"Who doesn't, where's Rouge?" Shadow asks as he looks about the room for Rouge.

"She's inside having the babies, you should get in there right away." Amy answers as she notices Tails is looking out the glass doors at something.

"Tails?" Amy asks worryingly as Tails' face looks blank.

"Echidna." Tails says as he notices Reggie start-up her bike and jets off.

"Reggie." Shadow says as he thinks to himself as why Reggie would prefer to run off with a shot to the stomach like that. Knuckles enters the waiting room through a pair of green double doors with bandages in a few places on his body.

"What happened to you?" Shadow asks surprised about how Knuckles even got smacked around, usually Knuckles does the smacking.

"Don't worry about that. You better attend to Rouge, she needs you now more than ever." Knuckles answers to Shadow as Tails walks up to Knuckles to ask him something. Shadow walks up to the receptionist to ask for Rouge.

"You're Mr. Shadow? Okay, I'll take you to her." The receptionist gets out from behind her desk and escorts Shadow to the back.

"What did you mean she was blue?" Knuckles asks Tails as he proceeds to tell him what she looked like. "Actually, don't tell me no more Tails, I don't want to hear no more." Knuckles heads outside to look about and Tails walks outside with him. Knuckles & Tails looks around out front, Tails notices a bluish puddle on the ground. Tails pulls out a napkin from his backpack and gets as muck of it as he can.

"What are you doing Tails? Trying to be a good Samaritan?" Knuckles asks as Tails looks at the puddle closer.

"Blood. Blue blood." Tails answers while he puts the blue blood-soaked cloth into an airtight bag.

"So?" Knuckles says as he doesn't even know what that means.

"I don't think we're alone after all." Tails answers as he looks up into the starry night. "Why is she even here? Exploration?"


	47. Reggi-Siya's Promise(Silent Spring Pt 1)

Reggie rides her motorcycle until she was out in the countryside, she couldn't go on any farther as her body became weak and drained from losing blood. She kicks the kickstand down and rolls off of her own bike and lands on the pavement. Reggie places both hands on her gunshot wound so she can attempt to live just a bit longer, using up all of her PSI power to slow the bleeding down even more. Reggie hears something beating, but it wasn't her stressed heart, it sounded like a helicopter. As the noise draws near, Reggie's vision is tunneling and blurring but she is still fighting for her life. Soon, a dual-rotor, black helicopter flies over Reggie and lands right next to her motorcycle. Reggie rolls her head over at the helicopter's direction and even with foggy vision, she could make out that her friend, Armor Fist is on board. Armor Fist limps over to Reggie in his damaged armor, lifts her up with his flesh arm cradling her head and his mechanical one has her by the legs. Fist cripples into the helicopter with Reggie bleeding in his arms and the helicopter staff brought her motorbike on board.

"Hello Panzer." Reggie says Fist's real name faintly as she clings to life with a loosening grip.

"Hi Reggi-Siya." Fist responds as he looks at a very wounded Reggie.

"I... I... I wanna go home..." Reggie pleas as her eyes tear up, "I... miss... her..."

Reggie's plea of going to her home echoes inside Fist's mind until the helicopter pilot asks him a question.

"Where to Fist?"

"Reggie's home." Fist answers as he continues to keep Reggie alive simply by willing. A few hours seems to have been forever to Reggie as she can feel her PSI power's effects of slowing her bleeding beginning to wear off. The helicopter lowers to the surface nearby a little hut nearby a crater, Fist picks Reggie up one more time and limpily carries her inside the hut and sit her inside the bed. Reggie looks at Fist one more time and says her last line she will ever say to him, "There is no thanks that I could ever give you for this. (gasp) Please, Mr. Panzer... I want you to get out of this mess if it's not too late for you."

Fist gives a gulp before giving his answer, "It was too late when I got dragged in that war at the age of 14 Mrs. Reggi-Siya, there's no hitting the rewind button when you get in anything. It was an absolute joy to know you, sleep well. Good bye... Reggi-Siya."

Fist limps out of Reggie's hut and back into the helicopter, the helicopter crew out her motorcycle next to the hut for Reggie before taking off from the site and back into the sky.

"Where to next? The helicopter pilot asks Fist as Fist's armor status states that its nuclear reactor is approaching critical, nearing the point of melting down.

"Angel Island," Fist answers as he looks at the sun rising over the horizon, "I got a promise I must fulfill for Reggie."


	48. As Hedgehog And Wife

The nurse escorts Shadow over to the hospital room where Rouge is having their babies. Shadow walks into the room and the medical staff look over at him in shock of his arrival. They thought Shadow would never arrive for Rouge, let alone at a moment such as this. Rouge looks over at Shadow with pain-induced tears rolling out of her eyes. Rouge cannot believe it's Shadow, her Shadow.

"Shadow..." Rouge weakly calls over her expanded body to Shadow.

"Shhhh... please, save your breath. We got to help you through this," Shadow responds as he kneels over to Rouge's bedside and caresses her hand. "As hedgehog and wife."

Rouge nods her head to Shadow and faintly says, "Okay."

"Okay Rouge, as I have previously said not to push." The doctor tells Rouge as he takes a deep breath before continuing, "You must push now, and you're going to help out Shadow. I need you to push down lightly on her enlarged abdomen."

"Is a C-section possible?" Shadow asks as he thinks the farfetched idea won't work, let alone help his wife, Rouge, get the babies out.

"It's too late to do one now and the risk was too high." The doctor answers as he shows where Shadow to place his hands on his own wife, "We didn't want to jeopardize your spouse and you unborn children. You have to do it this way."

"I can't believe I got to help her push." Shadow replies as he positions his hands properly on Rouge's baby bump.

"Okay then, when I say push, Shadow and Rouge. You two push together. You two ready to go?"

"Yes." Shadow and Rouge say unanimously to the doctor as they wait for the word.

"Okay... push!" Shadow presses on Rouge's belly as she pushes with all of her able strength. Rouge grips the handrails extremely tight which makes her hands and face turn into a vibrant red.

"So far we got progress. Shadow, press a little lighter next time." The doctor advises Shadow as he shows where Shadow should press next. Rouge takes deep breaths as she's prepares herself to push again.

"Okay now... push!" Shadow presses slightly lighter just as the doctor advised earlier. Rouge still pushes with all her strength which finally gets the first baby crowning.

"You can step back now Shadow." The doctor instructs Shadow as he looks over at Rouge and asks, "Rouge, you almost have one out. Can you push by yourself?"

"Yes." Rouge answers as she readies herself to push once more, Rouge pushes and the first baby comes out wailing as it enters the world. Shadow gets up and looks at his and Rouge's first baby. With just one baby out, Rouge can breathe better now than before.

"Well congrats Shadow, it's a girl. And a beautiful one at that." The doctor says as he cradles the little newborn hedge-bat, she still has yet to have her umbilical cord that connects her to her mother cut. The child's appearance makes it clear that Shadow and Rouge are her parents with the black fur with red streaks and spiky hair from her father and the facial complexion, big ears, and inherent bat wings from her mother. The doctor hands the screaming baby girl to Shadow as he prepares to cut the cord, Shadow feels a little odd that as of a few minutes ago and for the past nine months that this baby and another one was in his wife Rouge. A nurse shows up and wraps the newborn baby in an ebony blanket that Shadow requests for his daughter because he didn't like the idea of pink for his unique daughter. Shadow takes himself and his and Rouge's love child and sits in a chair right next to his wife, Rouge.

"Okay Rouge, ready to push out the other one?" The doctor asks as he regains his focus on the next birth.

"The other one?" Shadows says while he looks down at the baby girl, "There's two?"

"Yes Shadow," Rouge says as some of her strength is restored after getting one baby born, "You must have made me pregnant with two that night. And yes doctor, I'm ready to birth my second."

"Okay Rouge, you know what to do." The doctor says to Rouge as the stress of making this birth successful is making him sweat nervously. "Push!"

Rouge gives an extra strength push as she almost has the other baby about to crown. This surprises the doctor as he warns Rouge, "Don't push too hard, you'll hurt yourself! Now, push without too much effort now, you almost have this one born." Rouge readies herself as she pushes one last time which her second baby pops out and the doctor has it in his hands. Rouge pants from the exhaustion that comes with birthing two babies, Shadow hands the bundled baby hedge-bat girl to Rouge as Shadow goes over to the doctor who has the second child which made more of a growl than a cry. Simply by its sound, Shadow could tell this one was a boy.

"Well if it isn't apparent already to you Shadow, this one's a boy." The doctor says as he has Shadow hold the baby while he cuts the baby's umbilical cord that also connects him to his mother. Shadow requests a dark red blanket for his and Rouge's baby boy, Shadow can see that the boy has more of his father's likeness and has more impressively spiky hair with black fur with red streaks like his dad and sister. But unlike his sister, the baby boy has also his dad's ears and the only visible feature Shadow can see that he got from his mother is the wings. The doctor and the medical staff give themselves a round of applause for making such an eventful birth possible. Shadow holds the blanketed baby boy who seems a little more energetic than his sister who is calmly drinking milk from her mother's already huge, luscious breasts.

"I can tell that this little one here has sharp little teeth." Rouge says as her daughter continues to drink her mother's milk, Shadow hands over the boy to Rouge and she looks at her son and tells Shadow, "Yep, he's you with my wings."

Meanwhile in the lobby, Amy, Tails and a battered Knuckles watch the news on TV. The news is currently covering a hostage situation that is unfolding in New Vegas.

"We now go to live coverage of the hostage situation in the Starstorm New Vegas Casino. There is an unconfirmed number of gunmen inside but one has been identified as Ben. Ben was to be executed earlier this month for involvement in the ARK incident almost 60 years ago. But as of last week there was a massive prison break which numerous inmates including Ben escaped. New Vegas Police, the local S.W.A.T. Team, and even G.U.N. are trying their best to reason with Ben who holds the band who was performing live for the party being held there earlier, Huey Lewis And The News, hostage."

"Um... Amy Rose, Miles Prower, and... Knuckles," A nurse calls out to Amy, Tails, & Knuckles from the door that leads to the medical rooms, "You can visit Shadow and Rouge now."

"Cool!" Amy enthusiastically squeals, "I wonder what the babies look like?"

"We'll see Amy." Tails says as the three of them walk into the medical room where Shadow and Rouge are with their newborn babies. As two lives have been born, so many others have been lost and destroyed at this point and continue to add up. When will exist a pause in the piling of the slain and ruined?


	49. Broken Ben (Falling Part 1)

The night heats up as the New Vegas Strip becomes a police and government only zone as the New Vegas Police and the S.W.A.T. Team encircle the Starstorm New Vegas Casino with added help from G.U.N.'s Young Defenders Program. The Police and S.W.A.T. gawk at the young teenagers in combat uniforms who hold rifles and SMGs, all the teenaged soldiers aren't even 16 years of age but that only makes them more gung-ho to reducing the casino to a pile of rubble with the tanks, APC's, trucks, and any and all weapons that G.U.N. placed responsibility and proper handling to. The police officers don't like the idea of bringing children, especially government hired ones, into adult matters such as a hostage situation. The S.W.A.T. Team fear for the safety of the city as some of them watch the Young Defenders unload machine guns, bazookas, mortars, and every piece of ordinance, explosive, and munitions they can get their inexperienced hands on from the trucks that arrive at full speed from the armory. The police and S.W.A.T. Team regains their focus on the unfolding hostage situation as every member of the police force, S.W.A.T. Team, and G.U.N.'s Young Defender work together on a plan to diffuse the holdup without using a single bullet.

"This is the NVPD, don't do anything brash now." The police officer speaks into a megaphone from his Dodge St. Regis police car out to the casino, "I highly believe we can work this out, don't bring any harm to yourself or others."

Meanwhile, Gris and Claude are behind the bar in the now empty events center. Gris got a hold of a Winchester Model 1912 Super X police shotgun loaded full with Double Aught Buckshot from a dead police officer while Claude has himself a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum ready. They both come up with a plan to take down Ben of whom they know where he is in the casino.

"We need to get out of here, let the police and S.W.A.T handle this one." Claude whispers to Gris which he absolutely thinks Claude's idea is retarded.

"What we need to do is put that dog down six feet under, I know I can do it." Gris responds as he is still under the influence of alcohol, he downs another 40 oz. of Mickey's before he asks Claude a question. "Where is my parents?"

"Safe, and your grandparents are at the hospital." Claude answers as he reads his phone's text that's from Gris' parents, "Your parents wish for your safety. If there's any reasoning left in you Gris, we need to leave now."

"There's no reasoning at this point, we got to do something about this. The police is a bunch of spineless faggots and the S.W.A.T.'s not worth a shit as usual. No, I'm not leaving until I give that dog a pound of steel in double aught shotgun BBs. I want to see him drop dead and regret the day he showed his worthless existence in mine and my parents' casino."

Meanwhile, the G.U.N. Commander is heading up toward the strip in his limousine. The G.U.N. Commander contemplates opening the file which he suspects is fake. He thinks about it for a while longer until the limousine is stopped by G.U.N.'s Young Defenders who think the limo is another one for one of the strip's casinos.

"May I see some identification!" The Young Defender asks hastily as he points his AR-10 right at the driver, the G.U.N. Commander rolls down his window from the back and tells the armed teenaged soldier, "Is that how you address your commander Private?"

"My apologies sir. We have a very unsafe situation here and you mustn't get yourself close to the action sir."

The G.U.N. Commander puts the file inside his suitcase and gets out of the car and looks at how the Young Defenders got every single piece of military equpment out to the police line.

"Tanks? APCs? Bazookas? Mortars? Do you consider any of it necessary for this situation Private?" The G.U.N. Commander asks the Young Defender with absudity of the necessity of all the equipment that's been brought out here.

"Sir, we are dealing with the escaped convict, former MSgt. Ben. We are not going to underestimate his combat capacity sir."

"Ben huh? Let me get to the front, no exceptions."

"Yes Sir!"

The Young Defender does his task and escorts the G.U.N. Commander to the line of police cars that encompass the Starstorm New Vegas. The G.U.N. Commander walks up to one of the police's St. Regis police cars and grabs the radio and sets it to the megaphone setting.

"MSgt. Ben, this is the G.U.N. Commander. You really have caused a lot of trouble out here. Please Ben, come to your senses, we can help you through this."

"It's too late for that, sir." Ben says to the commander through a cop radio he seized from inside the casino. "I just had everything taken from me. There's no bringing back Loid... sir."

"But Loid's still around." The G.U.N. Commander changes it to Ben's channel and asks Ben back through the radio, "C'mon Ben, we can pay him a visit together. What do you say?"

"(sniff) I just did. (sniff) I watched him die... sir. Right in front of me, he tried to help me but he gave everything for me. (sniff) ...I have his old dog tags... sir. (sniff sniff) I found out something that I never wanted to know. But it was important for him to tell me, he paid with his life to tell me. (sniff) Do you know Mark Patrone sir?"

"Yes Ben, I do. He's dead too."

"That's a lie, sir. I found his dead body up on top of the garage, he was using a false identity. I took his wallet and went through it, do you know Usen Amiatttt?"

"Yes, he's G.U.N.'s psychologist. Why? Do you want a visit from him?"

"No, he's dead too. He was Mark Patrone all along, Usen was just his forged identity. Did you know about this sir?"

The G.U.N, Commander almost drops the handset at that thought. The G.U.N. Commander thinks about what to say next.

"Actually Ben, I didn't. Did you have anything to do with Usen's death Ben?"

"No, that was Loid sir. He shot him and then Wight. He wanted to help me, and he paid with his life. I think you should investigate your entire armed forces, sir."

"That's all what I've done this past long time Ben. Look Ben if there's..."

"I've been looking for too long sir. I don't know what to say about things sir."

"Is there anything I can do for you Ben?"

"That's tough sir. I doubt you can unfuck fuck. I'll contemplate it for a while. I'm probably going to be dead by the end of this, too many want me to die sir."

"I will not let them harm you or kill you. You can trust me Ben. Can you release the hostages of us? Please Ben? I'm very confident we can help you through this."

"I will let all but one go. I'll hang on to Huey Lewis. I'll hand deliver him once I've reached my conclusion sir."

"Thank you Ben. I will make sure we can make it right for you."

The police radio goes silent and the G.U.N. Commander waits ever so patiently for Ben to fulfill his word. A Young Defender readies himself an M1 Garand sniper rifle on the hood of a NVPD Plymouth Gran Fury next to the G.U.N. Commander.

"You don't think this is going to work out?" The G.U.N. Commander asks the marksman who is looking through his scope.

"Are you realistic sir? Hostage situations never work out." The sniper answers as he rests himself and his rifle on the hood and zeros himself in on the entrance of the casino, ready for anything that can possibly happen. But the G.U.N. Commander still hopes that he can sucessfully diffuse this situation without any blood shed.


	50. A Bitter Ultimatum (Falling Part 2)

As Ben promised, all of the members of the band Huey Lewis And The News except one member are set free and through the sniper's scope, the band members can be seen exiting the casino through the entrance and make their way toward the police cars that encircle the building. Inside, Ben with Huey Lewis at gunpoint and holding him by the tie, move through the casino slowly up to the wall next to the entrance. Ben glances over at Loid's dead body as he leans on the wall and concludes what he wants while he holds his AR-10's barrel on Huey's distinguishable chin. Gris and Claude see Ben and Huey next to the entrance from the bar in the event's center.

"When that asshole walks outside, I'm gonna walk up to that section of wall where he is right now and once I hear him start talking, I'll go outside and plug him." Gris plots drunkenly while he watches Ben from the bar. Claude knows he should object to his partner in crime's risky plan, but with years upon years of working with Gris he knows that Gris almost never changes his mind no matter how much more logical his own plans are than Gris'.

"You know they may shoot you too, you're better off sitting this one out." Claude tries to make Gris reconsider his plan in a vain attempt that he may understand. But as usual, Gris is a man of action and turns down Claude's safer suggestion. Gris limps out from behind the bar haphazardly and dips into a nook that is much closer to where Ben and Huey are, Claude catches up to where Gris is despite protest.

Meanwhile, the NVPD, G.U.N.'s Young Defenders, the G.U.N. Commander, and the ever so aware public wait for the end of this hostage scenario. The band waits next to an A.P.C. out of harm's way as they wait for the only band member left to reach safety. Ben waits a while longer until he has made up his mind for what he wants. Ben finally decides what his demands are and choking Huey by the tie, he makes he way right outside of the entrance.

"I've decided, but I want you out front here in person so I can tell you." Ben radios the G.U.N. Commander as he notices Ben standing out front with Huey, waiting for the G.U.N. Commander to walk up there. "I have his head in my sights, you have the utmost safety from me." The Young Defender sniper assures the G.U.N. Commander, the commander walks out to Ben like he demanded and stands in front of him.

"Well Ben, you certainly caused an uproar." The G.U.N. Commander says as he looks around the front of the casino. "What is it going to take for you to come to your senses Master Sergeant?"

"Is it too much to ask for? I want this stupid shit to end. The corruption, the lies, the backstabbing. I've lost my friends, I have nothing to lose." Ben replies angrily as he tightens Huey's tie. "But tell me this, why does Shadow walk this Earth?"

"Excuse me? What does Shadow have to do with this?"

"He started all of this, he fucked up everything. And I'm going to end his troublemaking. Is that too high of a demand?"

"But Ben, can you cease this grudge with Shadow? Has he ever did any harm to you?"

"More than enough. He must die. He has costed me everything, and my name is tarnished because of it. And why are you acting like you are on his side?"

"Ben. I cannot let you kill Shadow. He may have messed up then, but he is invaluable for our nation's safety."

"I knew it."

"Pardon?"

"It's not fair." Ben begins to tear up in his eyes and swings his AR-10's barrel around, pointing the rifle right at the G.U.N. Commander's head. "I can't have what I want. I mean nothing to anybody."

Just as Ben is about to punch the G.U.N. Commander's ticket to the afterlife, Gris sloppily swings out of the casino's entrance and blast Ben in the back with Double Aught from Gris' shotgun. Ben fires a shot that narrowly misses the G.U.N. Commander's head and drops his rifle, then slumps into the Commander's arms bleeding and crying.

"It's... just... not... fair." Ben mutters as he knows that he has failed and is blacking out from being shot. Gris drops to the ground and passes out from his own injuries and being drunk. The NVPD hop in their cop cars and crawl up to the G.U.N. Commander at the casino's entrance, the police stop and looks at the bloodied end of this horrible situation.

"Get me medical attention!" THe G.U.N. Commander shouts out to the police, the police radios in an ambulance that was on standby behind the police line. The ambulance speeds over and collects Ben and Gris as fast as possible. The paramedics roll out with a couple of stretchers and place Ben on one stretcher and rolls it out-of-the-way while they put Gris on the other one. An emergency helicopter branded with a red cross swoops in and collects Ben, the helicopter picks Ben up and carries him away to the hospital while the paramedics place Gris into the ambulance and drives off to the hospital.

"Only if..." The G.U.N. Commander says as he watches the helicopter fly away while the sun finally rises over the horizon.


	51. It's A Wonderful Name

"I'm glad we helped Rouge by getting her here so she can give birth to her babies." Amy delightfully says as she nears the door to Rouge's room and twists the door knob to open it. "I can't wait to see the babies."

"I bet they'll look just like their parents." Tails quips to Amy as he shifts his view to Rouge, "Hi Rooooooooooowooooooooooooah!" Tails is caught off guard by Rouge's bare breasts because she is breast feeding both of her newborn babies.

"Shhhhhh." A very tired and worn-out Rouge hushes Tails as to not bother the suckling babies who are being very quiet and docile. "The only time they cried is when they came out of me. I'm unbelievably exhausted so please do your best to not make them cry." Amy slides over to Rouge's bedside to see what the babies look like.

"Awww... They look just like you and Shadow." Amy looks at both babies who drink happily from their mother's breast, "Think I can hold one?"

"Well the girl must be full finally, she has been drinking my milk ever since I gave birth to her." Rouge answers as she can feel her baby girl stop drinking from her breast. "Pick her up carefully, I don't want her to know that she's not next to her mommy anymore." Amy cradles Rouge's baby girl carefully and lifts her up to where she can see the baby's face and looks.

"She's just like her mama." Amy caresses the baby with the utmost care, the newborn gives a little yawn that exposes her growing fangs similar to that of her mother's. The baby opens her eyes, revealing her green irises and notices that she isn't with her mom. The baby fussed about in Amy's arms until Amy gives the baby back to her mama.

"She must be a sensitive one." Rouge quips as Shadow holds the baby girl again, Shadow looks at the baby who looks at him back. Shadow spaces out while he stares at the baby. In Shadow's mind, everything that has happened to him for his entire life overwhelms his thoughts and mind, almost dropping his child.

"She means a lot to me." Shadow says under his breath while he proceeds to caress his child, "Even with her gone, she will never leave me."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asks Shadow but Tails and Amy nudge him to signal him not to bring up such a sore subject because Tails, Amy, and even Rouge know what Shadow means.

"You know damn well what I mean." Shadow sparks out at Knuckles but not loud enough to disturb his and his wife's children and then settles down to a hushed voice before continuing on, "Even though she is forever gone from my side, she will never leave my memories. With this in my mind forever as long as I and this child exists, if not longer, I will give her the most beautiful name I can offer. My name for mine and my wife's wonderful child will be... Maria. Each time I look at this little baby girl, I'm reminded of my closest friend from more than a half a millenium ago. And this is why she deserves this beautiful name."

"That was the most beautiful thing that you have ever said Shadow." Rouge compliments Shadow while becoming teary-eyed herself, "I'm glad that she has you as a dad."

"Thank you, and she has the best mother too." Shadow replies to Rouge following it up by lovingly locking lips with his wife.

"Welcome back Shadow," Rouge says to Shadow while they kiss, "We really missed you."


	52. Shading And Tinting (Silent Spring Pt 2)

"Where to next? The cargo helicopter pilot asks Fist as Fist's armor status states that its nuclear reactor is approaching critical, nearing the point of melting down.

"Angel Island," Fist answers as he looks at the sun rising over the horizon, "I got a promise I must fulfill for Reggie."

"Okay, and what does this promise must need?" The helicopter pilot questions Fist.

"I need to pay my respects... in lead and copper ammunition."

"Alright, let's give that place hell."

"But first, I must give them something extra. One of you, help me dismount from my armor."

"What!? That's ludicrous! You know what will happen to you if you do that!" One of the passengers in the cargo helicopter says as he doesn't yet know that Fist's armor is a mobile nuclear bomb about to erupt in a fantastic explosion.

"I'm a walking nuclear time bomb damn it! Dismount me now! That's an order!" Fist roars out at the cowardly passenger. The passenger helps Fist dismount by unlocking his flesh body from his mechanized armor. One whole side of the armor-plated chest folds away, revealing Fist's abdominal muscles and scars from the multitudes of surgery that Fist had undergone to stay alive for all this time. Fist grabs a railing and pulls himself out, revealing that his legs been amputated up to the femurs and his right arm no longer exists. Everybody aboard the armed cargo helicopter is in shock what Fist looks like without his combat armor which falls to the floor by itself without an operator to keep it upright. A couple more of the helicopter's passengers picks up Fist and escorts him to the seat that is behind a machine gun similar to the one he used to attack Knuckles, Tails, Amy, & Rouge with, the infamous _Maschinengewehr 42_, or by the name most know it as, the MG 42. The helicopter crew fasten Fist's safety belts for him and strap him in tightly so he don't fall off. The cargo helicopter flies in over Angel Island at maximum speed with Fist ready to pay his respects for Reggi-Siya.

"Push my dismounted armor out of the helicopter now!" Fist shouts out at the helicopter crew as he notices his busted up armor's about to explode, the crew shove it out of the back of the cargo helicopter and the discarded armor falls in a patch of forest somewhere near the edge of Angel Island. The armor explodes violently while the helicopter flies away, the sun has just risen twice today for the inhabitants of Angel Island. Meanwhile a small group of disgruntled former Nocturnus Clan members pilfer the Mystic Ruins but only come up empty-handed save the leader who finds a necklace clad in gold with a blue jewel in the center.

"Hey, I found something!" The leader says as he stands on top of some ruble and holds the necklace in his hand over his small group.

"What could it be, Tint?" One of the group member asks Tint, who is their leader.

Tint looks at the necklace for a bit, concluding with, "I don't know." Tint puts it around his neck and nonchalantly mimics Tikal almost perfectly, "Oh look at me! I'm Tikal! I'm just a pathetic little girl of a people who basically murdered themselves! I went up to the Master Emerald where I disappeared because no one would listen to me because my people are a bunch of fucking retards!"

One of Tint's members eggs him on with a deep, pseudo-burly voice, "Ooooooooooh, I'm Pachacamac! I'm the retarded leader of the Knuckles Tribe! My head is intensely large but my brain is only the size of a rock! If you can say one thing about me, I killed my own people with my overwhelming stupidity!"

"But father, what about the future?" Tint continues on with his fake Tikal voice, "What about the fact that one day there will only be one left of our retarded clan?"

"No worries Tikal," Tint's group member proceeds to pose a Pachacamac, "even though your argument is very logical and is our future, I don't care because I'm stupid and a pathetic excuse of a leader!"

Tint's group erupts into an uproar of laughter when the shockwave from Fist's armor exploding rocks the ruins which almost throws Tint off of the pile of ruble he is standing on. Tint and his whole group grow silent while a piece of the ruins crashes down in the background.

"What was that?" One of Tint's group members ask, Tint can see a small mushroom cloud from where he's standing.

"Angel Island's under attack again." Tint says as he looks about for a minute and notices a cargo helicopter flying toward the ruins. Tint warns his group loudly as the helicopter hastily closes in on the ruins, "We got company!"

The small group scatters and hides in the crevices to avoid being seen, the helicopter slows down and hovers in place. Inside the helicopter, Fist readies his machine gun and prepares to deface the Echidnan landmark unaware of Tint and his group's existence. "Time to destroy some history." Fist says as he opens fire on what little remains of the ancient civilization. The machine gun rips the quiet scenery with its distinct high rate of fire and damages the ruins even further with large quantities of ammunition. The ancient scenery proceeds to crumble with each impacting round. Fist continues on until the machine gun seizes to work from not being designed to fire for such an extended period. The cargo helicopter takes a sudden blast from high-speed gusts that come with such elevations and the helicopter shifts in the air. A spare machine gun with a lengthy belt of munitions attached jumps out from the storage rack and slides out from the cargo hatch that's been left open where it falls down to the surface of Angel Island. The passengers and crew attempts to catch the weapon but the gun was long gone by the time they even got out of their seats.

"Hell with it, we need to leave now before we run out of fuel!" The helicopter pilot says to Fist who nods in agreement.

"Agreed, my promise is fulfilled." Fist says as he looks over the damage he just caused to the already weathered ruins. "Let's go."

The cargo helicopter leaves and goes with the gust so it can take off faster, Tint watches the helicopter leave Angel Island before walking outside again. Tint looks about the ruins to make sure the coast is clear and walks over to the weapon and picks it up. Tint's group members emerge from the ruin's crevices and walk over to Tint.

"What is that? What attacked us? What is going on here?" A couple of group members ask as they look at Tint inspect the gun.

"I don't know yet." Tint answers as he holds the gun with one hand and waves it around for a bit. Tint sees a broken column and points his newly acquired gun and fires a quick and short burst at the column which punches some serious holes into it. Tint's group jump back in shock as this gun's high rate of fire and sound is very identical to the one the helicopter used earlier.

"But I do know one thing." Tint says as he grows a Cheshire smirk from testing such an intimidating weapon, "Ever since we left the Twilight Cage, nobody would give us a hand or even a chance. Everything about this new place has sucked since day one. It's about high time we... return the favor."

"But what about Shade?" One of the group members ask Tint, "Isn't she trying to help us out? What if she figures out about us or at least you doing this?"

"I doubt Shade cares," Tint replies with anguish, "she's probably to busy ogling that red excuse of an Echidna, Knuckles. What kind of credibility does she have if she's swooning over a member of the Knuckles clan? The short answer is none, and if she wants to stop this, she better do something now! If you're with me say yes, if no than you can leave and wait for something that has no chance of happening."

None of the group members object to Tint's idea and universally agree.

"Then it's settled." Tint says to his group, "We shall make our opinion public and show how disgruntled we can get!"

The group cheers and is ready to unconditionally listen to Tint's every order.

"Shade," Tint thinks to himself, "You would've helped us when we needed it. But why didn't you Shade?"

In the distance, Shade just watched everything that has transpired and isn't liking what Tint's group is up to.

"This is really bad, I better warn Knuckles about this." Shade monologues as she uses her modified Warp Belt as a teleportation device and leaves Angel Island.


	53. Occupational Conflicts

dataDyne Headquarters

0800 Hours

Kyle Easton, the CEO of dataDyne Corp. waits patiently in his throne inside his main headquarters for Dr. Kalgan's return. The idle CEO tinkers with his desk pictures when a rushed Dr. Kalgan bursts through the door.

"Ah... doctor... I've been waiting for you." Kyle says as he analyzes his surroundings. "Are you successful?"

"Yes Kyle, I am." Dr. Kalgan answers up to his boss, Kyle, "The doom clone plan was way more successful than my predictions. It was more than enough to get the strand of Shadow's hair that's in Rouge's house as well as forge positive relations with Rouge in case if I need to meet up with her ever again. Rouge is also completely oblivious to the me she physically met was nothing but a mere disposable copy."

"Excellent. G.U.N. has unknowingly fulfilled their long-standing contract with us. It doesn't matter what happens to G.U.N., let alone the United Federation at this point."

"Why do we need Shadow's DNA strand? Shouldn't you have notified me earlier?"

"Dr. Carroll will brief you up to speed on that matter once you leave. You have done excellent doctor, now... good day."

"Okay, good-bye."

Once the doors to Kyle's office shut behind Dr. Kalgan, Kalgan thinks to himself for a few minutes about his dilemma with Rouge.

"Rouge, I'm sorry. You're a good person, I hope I can make it right despite my undeniable deception. Maybe... maybe someday I could be able to correct this."

"I can tell that you're relations with Rouge the Bat has changed your ethics Dr. Kalgan." A digitized voice speaks out to Kalgan from the elevator. "Even though I am an A.I., I can notice changes such as this."

"But Dr. Carroll, how?"

"There isn't a way you can have it both ways Ailbe, you can make as many attempts as you can possibly do, but you will only most likely waste your time. You're better off making yourself distant from Rouge the Bat, it's the best solution."

"Okay Dr. Carroll, I understand."

A disappointed Dr. Kalgan enters the elevator with Dr. Carroll, ready to be brought up to speed on the next assignment. But Dr. Kalgan will never forget the good memories he uploaded from his doom clone, with him and Rouge. Maybe this will be a lesson for Dr. Kalgan that even the safest occupations have their own hazards. Be it emotional or physical, there isn't such thing as a safe occupation.


	54. Taking What Is Not Mine

Dr. Ailbe Kalgan & Dr. Carroll descends into the depths of the dataDyne Headquarters by elevator, but as the elevator nears the bottom, there is a series of crashing noises and vibrations combined with people screaming. Dr. Kalgan does not want to know of what awaits him once the doors open.

Inside the lowest floor, the N.R.O. waits for Dr. Kalgan with their two top soldiers, Volkov, his partner Kirill the Siberian Husky, and their Commanding Officer, Nikolai Yezhov. The N.R.O. intruded the underground floor with a subterranean drill that also serves as their APC. The elevator arrives and opens Dr. Kalgan to Volkov and Kirill who are very angry at him for causing them to receive cybernetic parts.

"Remember you?" Volkov says as he snatches Dr. Kalgan by the neck and carries him over to Yezhov with Kirill readying a combat knife that ejects from the palm of his mechanized hand. Kirill growls and cusses at Kalgan in his native Northerner language.

"Dah... Kalgan, remember me not?" Yezhov greets Kalgan who Volkov lowers down to the ground to Yezhov's level, which reveals that Yezhov is a rather short person.

"I didn't expect a reunion party, I do remember you being much more taller than this Yezhov." Kalgan snaps a remark at Yezhov that strikes a nerve in Yezhov's head. Yezhov takes his TT-33 handgun and shoots Kalgan in the knee which forces Kalgan to kneel down to Yezhov.

"Remember you being bullet-proof." Yezhov replies with a smirk and returns his handgun to its holster. "Wrong guess I."

"There is no need to kill a man who is already dying, Yezhov." A grunting voice speaks from within the APC, "Save your ammo for somebody else."

"Who is that? No... it could never be..." Kalgan says aloud as he knows it could only be one person.

To Kalgan's surprise, a towering man with eye obscuring near-black goggles and a thick lab coat exits the APC and walks over to Yezhov and Kalgan. "The correct way to say it is 'it should never be'." The monstrosity that is the man in the lab coat and near non-transparent goggles lifts up Kalgan by the neck without strain and positions his humoungous hand for a better grip around Kalgan's comparatively thin neck. "Now where is Project: Shadow's DNA? I will only ask once."

Dr. Kalgan, knowing that he is boned no matter if he resists or not, reluctantly hands over the jar containing a clipping of Shadow's hair. "Here... take it... Dr. Black."

"Thank you for your compliance Kalgan. This is your reward." Dr. Black takes Shadow's hair sample before throwing Dr. Kalgan across the room and crashing him into the concrete wall.

"Dr. Black... why?" Dr Kalgan utters before blacking out with Dr. Black and the N.R.O. re-entering the APC and making their exit. Inside, Dr. Black looks at Shadow's hair strand inside the jar.

"You are a failure Gerald." Dr. Black thinks to himself while the flashbacks of what has happened for the past 100 years begin to replay in his mind. "You have caused nothing but pain and suffering for the masses. Your potential was great but your failure was inevitable. Your beloved Maria had died for nothing. Your failure had no success, you are nothing to anybody Gerald. You have lost, and soon, anything that is left of what you created and loved will wilt and die because of your failure."


	55. Plotting A Course

Somewhere under the Pacific Ocean, Robotnik has retreated to one of his bases located under the ocean. Robotnik stands in front of a holographic map, contemplating what he should do next.

"It was much different when I was the only one with all the toys and me being the only one wanting world domination." Robotnik snarls as he grooms his sizable moustache with his right hand. "Now I got that damned Red Yezhov after me, and I'm in no place to give a... fitting counterattack to such an inconceivably pompous Communist midget with a height problem. I think I have no choice but to call the power of the Chaos Emeralds for the I don't know how many times now. That pesky hedgehog used to be the problem, now I am facing a much more larger scale threat. I think I'll watch the news and hopefully give my mind a break from what is going on here."

Robotnik presses a button on his recliner and the hologram map shuts off and a large monitor drops from the ceiling and auto-tunes into a news channel.

"After an intense firefight and hostage situation, the Starstorm Casino New Vegas has returned to normal functions. Just released is some of the CCTV footage of the parking garage security cameras that shows only a slight amount of the action."

The footage shows a fleeing Reggie and Shadow exit the parking garage with Ben shooting at them, also shown was Ben ducking underneath a car with AG3NT00 making his entrance and blowing up the police cars that just showed up to block the exit. Ben gets out from underneath the car once AG3NT00 makes his exit on his motorcycle.

"I can't believe this. Shadow's been attacked too?" Robotnik says to himself as he proceeds to watch.

"While the NVPD, G.U.N., and S.P.E.C. continue to identify those involved or those who have died in the incident, we will interview the ever-brave Gris the Bat who has brought this long firefight and hostage situation to a bitter end."

The screen transitions from the news room to Gris' bedside with Gris' parents and his lawyer giving him moral support.

"Hello everyone," Gris says to the camera, "I am Gris... I hope that this tragic event hasn't ruined anybody. I will not ask for donations or make a charity or cause because of this. However, if you really feel like making donations; please gamble at our casino... Starstorm Casino New Vegas. Me, as well as my family, will make sure that those who were traumatized, injured, or dying will get just compensation. Thank you for watching and have a great day and make sure to visit New Vegas."

The screen returns to the news room with the newscaster receiving a slip of paper from the offscreen camera crew, the newscaster reads the paper before proceeding to speak.

"In other news, there was a late night attack on a G.U.N. Agent who went into labor by the attack. Thanks to the bravery of her friends, she was able to make it to the hospital where she gave birth to her children."

"Wow. Who could that be?" Robotnik shrugs before concluding with, "Couldn't be. It just couldn't happen like that."

"You know damn well who it is, Egg." A revitalized and refreshed X-13 cracks at Eggman, "Who you just escaped from as well who is causing all of this means serious business and we only escaped by a very small margin. Now... boss, what's the plan? I'm still on your payroll."

"We're going to lay low here until we can figure out what we _can_ do." Eggman answers up while fidgeting with his moustache, "Sound fair enough?"

"Very logical." X-13 replies as he leaves Eggman by himself. Eggman continues to decide what will his next move be alone, by himself.


	56. Out Of The Black

It's been a while since I moved out here to the desert. The desert, they say is a very quiet and boring place. My experience says otherwise, it's nothing but strange occurence after strange occurence. Well, at least I haven't seen a UFO yet... wait what's that bright object in my rear-view?

_CRASH!_

Holy shit, the world's coming to an end! Fucking shit, we're boned! What!? Just a perfect time for my truck to shut off on me. God fucking damn it! Well, since I'm probably going to be mauled by some weird space creature, I might as well closely inspect our friend E.T. So here I am, walking up to this thing that apparently must be the space craft. Very angular and many flat surfaces I must add. I wonder if something's inside? I'll give it a couple knocks.

_Knock. Knock._

Hmmm... sounds very insulated indeed. I think it's still in there. Well okay then, I had enough. I'm going to leave now... in my truck. Alright, now to start it...

_Rurururururur... Rurururururur..._

If only this fucking thing can start! Come on! Motorvate you fucking Mack! You eight-by-eight slug! And I thought I needed a bigger truck. Come on, you need a bigger slide bed truck. You can carry more stuff with it. What the fuck was I thinking? Oh great, what is wrong with the CD changer? You've decided to fuck with me too? Wait... I think it's trying to send me a message.

'Do I have to tell the story... Of a thousand rainy days since we first met?'

God damn it The Police... I don't know what to think... Come on you fucking pile! Start! Ugh... damn it... how about if I put it in reverse then start it?

_ Rurururururur VROOM! VROOOOOM!_

Aha! See ya! Wait, I can't get this out of reverse? This is a manual transmission with a mechanical fuel-injected diesel which has absolutely nothing electronic to operate it... how can I not motorvate forward!?

'You know I can't smile without you... Can't smile without you... If you only knew what I'm going through... I just can't smile without you...'

Fucking Barry Manilow, it's just not fair... well, I think E.T. here wants a ride. This... sucks... I'll back it up to the ship and get it up there. Okay, now to hop out and lower the slide bed. Then to hook it... where do I hook this thing? I think this crevice looks fair enough. Now to activate the winch and give our friend a lift, and follow it with a swift serving of getting the fuck out of here. I don't want to make this trip longer than it should.

'Sometimes It's hard to make things clear... Or know when to face the truth... And I know when the moment is here...'

I hope you're happy now Gloria Estefan, or what or whoever you are. Because you're taking me down a road I don't want to go down Miss Extraterrestrial.


	57. Dr Black & The Man With The Golden Eye

Siberia, somewhere near the Bering Strait.

Dr. Black holds Shadow's strand of hair as he looks over a well-preserved Maria who's bullet wounds are almost as fresh as that day so long ago. Dr. Black pauses for a moment, making up his mind before proceeding with his agenda.

"I think she'll be great leverage." Dr. Black concludes as he holds the strand of Shadow's hair next to Maria, "The greatest betrayal of the ultimate life-form! He will not raise a fist at her. Maria will be perfect to get to Shadow. See Gerald, I will destroy everything that is left of you!"

"What you are going to do?" Yezhov asks Dr. Black as he is not anywhere near the level of understanding of science as Dr. Black is.

"We are going to splice Maria's genes with Shadow's," Dr. Black answers as he grins under the lab coat' collar that obscures his face up to his eyes, "then we will bring her back to life and use her to take care of Shadow. Thus, making the ultimate anti-Shadow soldier ever devised."

"Why? Can't take care of him with classic blow up to bits with bombs and tanks?" Yezhov questions as he doesn't believe this will work.

"It would never work," Dr. Black concludes, "It's not as easy as you think it would be. That's more effective for the likes of Dr. Robotnik. I don't know about what your preferences are, but love is more powerful than any bomb ever made. That's why I will use Maria to destroy Shadow, Shadow will never try to fight Maria."

"Playing undermine? What if Stalin, Premier of N.R.O. figures out your plan and what you are doing?"

"Premier Stalin won't, and if he does, it would be no use to stop me." Dr. Black says as he strokes Maria's container with his humongous, gloved hand, "It wouldn't matter at that point anyway. Not at all."

In the background without anyone noticing he is there, a man with a golden eye witnessed and recorded the situation with his computerized eye. The man with the golden eye makes his exit out from behind some crates when he carelessly trips an alarm, alerting everyone in the Siberian facility of his presence. The golden-eyed man sprints off while Dr. Black shouts out, "After him! Don't let him escape!" Yezhov, Volkov, and Kirill pursue the intruder with guns blazing but couldn't land a single hit due to his notable speed on his feet. The man with the golden eye keeps his momentum up until he reaches the vehicle department where he steals a trail bike and exits the compound at full throttle. Yezhov and Volkov get left but Kirill keeps up with the fleeing infiltrator by stealing a bike of his own.

The man with the golden eye proves to be a very proficient motorcycle rider, but Kirill doesn't back down due to his ceaseless determination to kill the intruder. Kirill puts his AK-12 in his right hand and begins to open fire at the uninvited guest, but couldn't place any shots due to the excessive movement that comes with riding a motorcycle and not operating the assault rifle with both hands as one should. The man with the golden eye returns fire with a MP5, but it doesn't slow Kirill's lethal drive and only makes him press on further.

Almost a mile ahead of Kirill and the intruder, a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) plane waits for the man with the golden eye who is high-tailing it to the lift zone with Kirill hot in pursuit. The man with the golden eye and Kirill continue to shoot at each other until they both run out of ammo but the chase still continues on. One of the VTOL crew spots their man and his pursuer. A couple of armed men clad in the new combat uniforms wait by the open door as the man with the golden eye speeds to the plane, lays down his bike, and slides in between the two guys into the plane. Kirill gets caught off guard by the armed men waiting there who shoot at Kirill with all they got. Kirill falls off his bike and cannot get up due to his robotic prosthetics becoming damaged from the barrage of gunfire he is put under. With the VTOL plane collecting their guy, it lifts into the sky and darts off, leaving a damaged Kirill out in the Siberian wilderness for dead.

On the escape VTOL plane, K-134 congratulates the man with the golden eye, "You made it Goldeneye! What did you see?"

Goldeneye calmly takes a seat, and opens up a laptop and syncs his electronic eye with the computer. The footage not only recorded what happened, but it also recorded the exact coördinates. K-134 is completely tuned in to the footage that is playing. "Well, what's the next move boss?" K-134 asks Goldeneye after watching the whole recording, Goldeneye punches three letters into his computer and a graphic image of the Space Colony ARK pops-up on-screen.

"I see what needs to be done boss. Should I contact Kugel?" K-134 asks another question, but Goldeneye nods a stern 'no' as their VTOL plane flies back to the headquarters after completeing another successful mission.


	58. Finalizing(You Can Call Me 'The Police')

Almost seven months ago, I ran away from my spouse-to-be, Rouge the Bat who I impregnated with my children after a romantic evening in New Vegas a few months before. Within that little short of seven months, I had a very eventful and unforgettable time. With a shepherd who wanted me dead and a very cruel and mean echidna who gave me probably the best help anyone could ever give. Reggie, if you're penetrating my mind now, thanks is all I can give to you. I wonder where you are now? I probably shouldn't know your affairs even though you delved deep into mine, you may barge into anyone's business but it's only right that I don't follow suit. You shown me things I should have remembered before even thinking of flaking out on my Rouge. You took me about by force, but you did have some good, albeit a very miniscule amount. Rouge told me all about her deceased neighbor, Dr. Kalgan and how Amy, Tails, and Knuckles helped out a whole bunch while I left. I really need to thank them later, especially Tails for upgrading Omega from a E-123 to an E-124, Omega really needed an overhaul bad.

And now, here I am with my loving spouse, Rouge the Bat, our love children, Maria and Jarrell. I named the boy Jarrell, since it's almost the same as Gerald, but I know my boy isn't into anything scientific or intellectual judging by his tough demeanor and his robust behavior. As for Maria, she'll be quite active but not at near the level Jarrell would be. Maria's also has a much more tame disposition and only fights back if you don't let her have her way, just like her mother and my beautiful wife, Rouge. Amy, Tails, & Knuckles are watching the news, I wonder if Ben will survive? The big question I have with him is why did he try to blow my head off of my shoulders? I don't know if I'll ever know or even run into him again. Now that I'm thinking of questions, why is Sonic not present? His friends are here, why isn't he? I wouldn't be surprised if he's on a quest or running from something. But Tails or especially Amy Rose would know but they haven't mentioned him in any way. I don't think Knuckles would know, that guy cannot take a hint unless you spell it out to him. If it is one person that might as well consider being a detective, it's Miles Prower... I mean Tails.

"Is this the room of Shadow and Rouge?" A feminine voice asks from outside the room, it sounds like the nurse.

"Yes, you may come in." I answer the woman waiting outside, after my answer, a very executive female German Shepherd with a very well-built man who towers over her. The tall man is in black jeans and a black leather jacket that's zipped up and wears matching racing gloves. The only piece of his attire is his white shirt that is underneath his leather jacket. He also wears pitch-black shades which only drastically dim his overpowering illuminated eyes that seem to not stay one color, you can faintly hear the clicking that the eyes make when they change to a different choice of three colors, active infrared red, neon blue, or night-vision green. This man must be a machine of some kind, I have never seen one of this build before.

"I believe we have never met, Shadow and Rouge." The female German Shepherd says as she prepares her introduction, "But I will introduce myself, I am Miss Gina and I am G.U.N.'s head of record archives. But before I explain my reason of presence, I must require your visitors to leave."

As per Miss Gina requests, Miles, Amy, and Knuckles leave the room. Leaving me, my wife, my children, Miss Gina, and that massive human-like robot in this room alone.

"Robert, can you explain yourself." Miss Gina asks the towering machine man while she prepares her paperwork. Robert scans the room for one minute before taking two massive steps and stops himself right in front of me. Robert lowers himself down to my level and holds out his hand, takes a deep breath which almost sucks me into him like a vacuüm cleaner, and says with a synthesizer-operated voice, "Hello Shadow the Hedgehog, I am Robert Sting. My entrance with Miss Gina is only by coincidence. My reason for my presence is entirely different from Miss Gina's. I am here to ask you a few questions."

"Okay Robert. What is it that you need to know?" I respond to Robert in a way that doesn't make him suspect anything suspicious of what he is trying to solve.

"I know that a G.U.N. agent has died in an incident in New Vegas. Do you know Usen Amiatttt?" Robert asks me while his illuminated eyes change into that night vision green. His stare is blank and soulless, it's like he is trying to look through me instead. Robert closeness makes me shiver and he is close enough that I can see a horizontal line that align with the top of two half circles that look like zeros to me. I want Robert to get out of my face before I reprogram him to do so.

"Yes, he is G.U.N.'s psychologist. If you are concluding that I am responsible for his death, you are wrong." I answer Robert boldly and honestly. Robert stands back up and stands straight up as a board.

"I know you are not responsible Shadow the Hedgehog." Robert replies while he keeps me in his electronic sights, "I am the one who terminated him. He was a part of a plot to capture you. I am currently investigating what his motives are and who is his associates." After hearing that out of Robert's cold, electronic speech synthesizer; he only made me uncomfortable as I know what Usen's like and to wipe the world of such scum would need an individual of this caliber, I don't think it would be of anyone's interest to try to cross paths with Robert in a bad sense. "Now have you met him in person by any chance?"

"No, I have not." I answer him, Robert then shifts over to my wife Rouge who I hope his mechanical appearance doesn't get Maria and Jarrell wailing. "Did you meet Usen by any chance?"

"Yes I have," Rouge answers as she is also in discomfort by his nearness, "he threatened me with a hand grenade." Now I have never heard her mention that one to me yet. That's fucking horrible and I wasn't there to help her. I'm glad she's with me now. Robert's eyes shift to a neon blue and asks her, "And do you know why he did such a thing to you?"

"He was trying to find Shadow." Rouge answers before becoming teary-eyed, she continues to tell Robert about the interrogation, "I heard him mention 'Operation: Shadow Trace' on his phone as he hurried off."

"I see, thank you for telling me this Rouge the Bat." Robert thanks Rouge for answering his question, "I think his death should serve as fair compensation of your discomfort. That is all what I needed to know. You two, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat, have answered honestly. I thank you for that. Now I will make my exit."

"Are you like a member of a police unit?" Rouge asks Robert before he leaves.

"You could call me 'The Police', Rouge the Bat." Robert answers Rouge before shifting his sights over to me and changing his eyes to active infrared red, "And Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"Yes?" I respond to Robert as I wouldn't have a clue on what he would ask me.

"I may meet you again, it'll most likely be for a different reason. You have a good day now." Robert replies to me with his digitized voice and piercing stare.

"You too." I call back to Robert, I'll never forget Robert Sting's red computer stare, and that last line he said to me is forever etched in my memory. Robert Sting is an animated nightmare.


	59. What Was Once Real (It isn't Anymore)

Time stops for no one, not even me. I can only let you live longer, but I will eventually be back to put you in the ground. I am no hurry, there is no urgency to wipe any of my targets off of the face of this planet. I'm only allowing you to live long enough Shadow to enjoy your children for a little longer, I'll always keep the axe sharp for your neck. Everyone dies anyway, so why do they fight to live anyway? It'll only be in vain and meaningless to anyone but yourself. But I know I'll have much more time than most. Mortality is pointless when you know you cannot die. I've survived a 600 MPH motorcycle accident with no protection, with that in mind, you could have all the protection in the world but it's not a guarantee that you'll survive.

I don't care if I use a fake name, my replacement body's name which is AG3NT00, or my real name, Robert Sting. In fact if one were to look up my name, I'm dead and in the ground. I even know where my headstone is in the Central City Cemetary. After that wreck, only my brain and vitals got removed from my old body, which it looked like a wad of hamburger, and got placed in this new one in a removable unit so I could get a new body chassis if I need one. But even though my meat bag of a body is gone and new technology may create the sense of touch with touch sensors, it will never be like the flesh I originally had long ago. I'll let Shadow walk this time around, but the next time I run into him, he's done.

"Next destination?"

"I think we'll cruise for a while. I'm feeling a little slow today Ninya."

"Cruise? I don't what 'cruising' accomplishes."

"Maybe you'll understand once you know what all I've been through. I've outlasted more bodies than anyone will ever do. I need time to contemplate my past 'lives' before I make a full return to service. It's a multiple life thing."

I don't know what I'll do or what'll happen at this point, in fact, I don't even mind. I just lost the drive to even care, it just doesn't matter.


	60. Journey's Closure(Spandau Ballet's Gold)

Whether you're at the store...

the bar...

the hospital...

the casino...

a party...

on the road...

in a cell...

or in the ground...

There is the old dying and the new being born and stepping up to the plate.

If the new is up to the task as the old was

Or fail and die just as the old did before

There's always a next one to step in who is more fit.

Build, support, destroy...

It's the same rinse-wash-repeat.

The wheels keep spinning as long as a road is around for them to ride upon.

The road is running out of length and the brakes pressed before we crash.

A rolling stop up to the edge of the finished.

Opening up the doors at the last stop for you.

We did our damnedest and gave them hell by god.

But we done ran out of steam, ammo, piss & vinegar.

It's a necessity we rebuild for the next one to step in and motivate.

Where we ran out and lost our strength and energy.

But our place will not be forgotten, because you are...

Gold

Glad that you're bound to return

There's something I could've learned

You're indestructible

Always believe in...

(The End... Thank You...)


	61. Post-Ending Let-Down (Lost Document)

[Phase] Whew, I'm done! 60 Chapters with a total word count of 69,000! I think I did pretty damn well with this one.

[D.C.] Why did you have to end it you fucking dick!?

[Phase] Oh... um... D.C., if you can chill out for one minute, I think I can safely say...

[D.C.] Whatever is going to come out of your mouth is shit, you know you forgot one guy... ONE FUCKING GUY PHASE! Don't think I'll let this one slip Phase, this isn't over! It's far far from over.

[Phase] Who? Who did I forget?

[Emerald] Me, Phase. You forgot me, Emerald the Hedgebat. You know... the only guy who probably had a part in about... 3 or 4 chapters maybe and only mentioned in one other chapter. I'm glad Cream and Shade isn't here to show how they were only mentioned in just ONE chapter, in fact you should be happy it's only me instead of Shade. She would warp in here and fuck you up big time.

[Phase] Are you saying Shade would come in here and fuck me Emerald? The hell is wrong with you? That sounds...

[Emerald] I'm not joking around Phase! You had me infiltrate a place in the future, you had me time-travel from said future with X-13 who later teamed up with Robotnik, then you had me steal a cop car and ruin the two police officer's day, then you had me dump an entire clothes rack on Cream who thought I was Shadow before attacking Rouge's grandpa, then steal a freight train and crash it into Robotnik's basement doing 80 MPH of which it escapes my mind how I survived that, then you had me run up from the 4th basement of his huge lair up to the roof where I shot at the fleeing Robotnik and X-13, and then to top off ALL of that, you didn't even care to mention what happened to me after that shit fest that you gave me within those only couple chapters. You are a real dick, Phase.

[Phase] But...

[Emerald] But hey, it's cool that you have a file that explains what happened to me and what's going on in the future. But you didn't even release it to the public! That's outrageous! What are you keeping it in there for huh? Huh? Did you forget all about me? Do you even care?

[Phase] Yes I do Emerald, I DO care. And to prove that I genuinely care, I'm going to release this chapter... to the masses. Enjoy every... this is bad...

[Emerald & D.C.] What? Are you going to upload it?

[Phase] I can't upload a file that doesn't exist.

[Emerald & D.C.] That means...

[Phase] The chapter is no longer with us... I'm sorry, I cannot find it.

[Emerald & D.C.] You suck.


End file.
